The South African Communist Party (SACP) and the predominantly white-member trade union movement Solidarity have held a meeting to discuss strategies for stimulating growth and development in South Africa.
The workshop, held in Johannesburg on Thursday, focused on the mobilisation of workers’ capital and power, the challenges of globalisation, economic empowerment and the issue of affirmative action, the parties said in a statement.
One of the most important focal points of the discussion was the idea of a workers’ pact, in terms of which socio-economic issues concerning workers in South Africa could be addressed, the parties said. This pact would provide the labour movement with the opportunity to work on strategies for growth and development in favour of all workers and the poor.
The parties noted that the purchasing power of members of existing trade unions in South Africa currently amounts to approximately R130-billion per annum. If workers are able to succeed in mobilising their own capital, they will be able to gain control over their own empowerment.
The SACP and Solidarity acknowledged that the two organisations are different, given their backgrounds and programmes in general.
However, they agreed to focus their dialogue and interaction on points of common interest, which would be beneficial to growth and development in South Africa.
Both organisations expressed concern about the effects of globalisation and economic restructuring on the poor and criticised what they termed “the one-sided control and investment of workers’ funds by financial institutions”.
The workers’ pact could address this by enabling workers to control their own funds. Particular attention must be focused on pension and provident funds, as well as insurance investments. The pact must also concentrate on the mobilisation of the purchasing power of workers in South Africa, they said.
Solidarity expressed its concerns about the effects of affirmative action in respect of the alienation of white workers in South Africa. The trade union proposed an equality accord with the governing alliance, in order to restrict the negative consequences of affirmative action.
In response, the SACP reiterated its active support for Affirmative Action as a measure to redress past imbalances and representivity in South Africa’s workforce. The parties agreed to continue dialogue and exchange on this matter.
The meeting established several working groups to jointly investigate issues surrounding globalisation, mobilisation of workers’ capital, affirmative action and empowerment. Follow-up discussions will be held during 2003 during which the findings and recommendations of the working groups will be discussed and taken forward. – I-Net Bridge