The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is set to become the first victim of a wave of retrenchments sweeping the economy.
Affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the union has suffered a membership haemorrhage and leadership crisis. According to CWU spokesperson Mfanafuthi Sithebe the decline in membership is costing the union R1-million a month.
Cosatu’s general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi last week said the final decision on the matter would be taken at next month’s central executive committee meeting. Cosatu has powers to disband or merge unions in terms of a 2003 congress resolution.
The CWU was formed in 1996. By 1999 it claimed a membership of about 68 000, with most of its members coming from Telkom and the South African Post Office. But this figure has fallen to 35 000 as a result of retrenchments in the industry.
The union has also been hit by a crisis of leadership. It has been operating without a secretary general since the departure of Seleboho Kiti in November last year. His deputy, Mike Seroba, was fired this week for allegedly failing to report for duty since the beginning of the year.
In a last-ditch attempt to save the union, Sithebe said, the CWU would submit a turn-around strategy to the federation before the executive committee meeting. The strategy involves recruiting new membership from cellular phone companies and places such as the SABC.
Labour analyst Dr Duncan Innes said Cosatu’s intension to disband the CWU came as no surprise. He said ongoing unemployment and retrenchments make it difficult for unions to function. On the one hand, the loss of membership weakens their power bases and finances. On the other, they are weakened because their leadership see no future for themselves and find other careers.