Massive debt and constantly decreasing membership figures forced the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) to take urgent steps to address these problems, according to the trade union federation’s organisational review report released on Monday.
The report says Cosatu is owed almost R5-million, and the federation lost a total of 112 171 members over the past three years.
Cosatu’s membership dropped from 1 819 871 to 1 707 646 between 2000 and 2002. Four affiliate unions did not pay affiliation fees for 340 000 members, the report says.
”Although the precise reasons for membership loss still have to be investigated, on the whole it is caused by job losses and inability of some of our affiliates to penetrate their sectors.”
The SA Transport and Allied Workers Unions lost 28 913 members, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA lost 27 000 and the National Union of Mineworkers lost 1 0971 members.
Cosatu president Willie Madisha said the National Education, Health Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) and the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union were many months in arrears on their affiliation fees.
Six of Cosatu’s 19 affiliated unions owed the federation R4 856 349 for affiliation fees. These organisation included Nehawu and the Chemical, Energy, Printing, Paper, Wood and Allied Workers Union.
”That flies in the face of one of our founding principles which is paid up membership,” Madisha told Cosatu’s central committee.
”As Cosatu, we are still managing our work, but only with great difficulty.”
Cosatu convened the central committee meeting to ”frankly” discuss the state of the federation, and its affiliates. The meeting ends on Wednesday.
General secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said: ”We are not doing these things because we are collapsing, we are doing them because we are strong. What are the implications of these things?
”The worst thing to do when facing a problem is to pretend you don’t. Close your eyes and hope that prayer alone will solve the problems.”
In some instances, unions did not report membership figures of about 30 000 people in order to pay less affiliation fees, he said.
This made it difficult for the federation to do its work.
”The central committee faces a pressing challenge to adopt emergency measures to address the federation’s financial troubles,” Vavi said. – Sapa