Ebrahim Harvey
LEFT FIELD
What future do trade unions have? The recent conference of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in Durban was the most important international union meeting held in South Africa.
But coming at a time of the birth of a new millennium, as rapid globalisation is threatening unions as never before, it must rate as the most important ICFTU congress ever.
So it is unfortunate that the media and analysts did not give it the attention it deserved. With 215 affiliates in 145 countries and a membership of 125-million, the ICFTU could justifiably be seen as potentially the most powerful organisation in the world. But its numerical strength has failed to convince the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of the need to take the ICFTU more seriously. They do so, however, at their own peril. The ICFTU embraces most organised labour across the globe and played a big part in the mass demonstrations in Seattle last year. The writing is on the wall.
The congress met under the theme Globalising Social Justice. Among the most important issues discussed were worker rights, human rights, child labour, labour standards in trade relations, trade tariffs and job losses, international union solidarity and the future of the trade union movement.
Delegates also sought a greater voice in decision-making at the WTO and the World Bank. Tony Ehrenreich, deputy general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), said last week: “The ICFTU must become the voice of the working class at these multilateral forums. We cannot continue to allow the domination of policies by the wealthy countries. This form of globalisation has brought nothing but misery to the vast majority of people on the globe.”
There are differences on several issues among affiliates. This is to be expected in such a huge confederation with lingering ideological differences emanating from the Cold War period when the ICFTU was staunchly anti-communist and pitted against the now-defunct World Federation of Trade Unions. But, in the face of the onslaught of globalisation which affects workers all over the world, maximum unity is needed.
The time for hollow ultra-leftist dismissals of the ICFTU as reformist and for allowing ideological differences to obstruct unity in action is past. A dose of realism is necessary.
The time for glibly throwing Marxist theory, which has itself not yet fully got to grips with globalisation, at a whole range of new and very difficult problems is gone. Now unions need creative, imaginative and strategic thinking to cope with the new situation and to grow.
But unions have to be careful that the strategic and pragmatic compromises said to promise a win-win outcome for both labour and capital do not lead to or obscure a subtle but steady loss of both organisational and political power. We need to unpack “strategic thinking” within concrete power relations, which the “win- win” approach does not always do. The “win- win” approach, depending on circumstances and issues, may alternate with open class struggle.
Unions are faced with the emergence of a new, dynamic and complex set of realities. These not only threaten but open exciting challenges and new possibilities for increased international solidarity and co- ordination. Internet technology, a positive result of globalisation, has made it possible for unions to communicate and co- ordinate at the press of a button. This opens up immense possibilities for enhancing international union and social solidarity. It contributed to what happened in Seattle.
The ongoing loss of jobs and constant threat of further retrenchments, erosion of real wages and declining living standards compel unions to confront these issues defensively as a priority. However, the competitive cost-cutting pressures of globalisation, which give rise to these attacks on unions, also create difficulties for the multinational corporations, the WTO, IMF and the World Bank.
This interaction defines the current situation and placed unions in the forefront of the Seattle mass protests. It also provides great potential for international union and broader social solidarity. Though unions and socialist parties have declined, the prospect for broad social solidarity with a wide range of civil society organisations has never been better. In this fact lies the potential for a very powerful union-led global movement of activists. The role of the ICFTU is very important in securing this base.
Alongside job losses, the biggest single threat unions have to deal with in this era of globalisation is “jobless growth” and further trade liberalisation. While world trade has expanded considerably over the past few years, it has not led to an increase in employment and living standards. Instead more jobs were lost, with a further decline in living standards.
It is within this context that the planned Cosatu strike against job losses on May 10 must be seen. Research by Andrew Levy & Associates shows that almost a million jobs have been lost in South Africa since 1994.
Until both the government and employers stop the avalanche of retrenchments which makes a mockery of the African National Congress slogan “A Better Life For All”, Cosatu has no alternative but to take a firm stand. Not to do so would be a betrayal of the interests of its members, the unemployed and the entire working class. Before 1994 the ruling party would have understood this. But today it appears it hears, or is forced to hear, another, more distant drummer beating to the rhythm of the global giants for whom profits are a way of life – nay, the only life.