Trade union Solidarity on Tuesday announced its decision to join the Confederation of South African Workers’ Unions (Consawu).
Consawu, which was founded in March 2003, currently has 23 trade unions as members, of which Solidarity is the largest group. Consawu’s total membership is almost 290 000 members.
Consawu also belongs to the international confederation, the World Confederation of Labour, which has 26-million members worldwide.
According to Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans, the trade union decided to join the federation after numerous discussions with the Consawu leadership.
Consawu membership not only gives Solidarity a bigger forum to make its mark nationally, but also enables it actively to participate in an international forum, he said.
“Labour democracy demands the existence of more than one strong federation. Just as deleterious as domination by a single political party is for political democracy, just as harmful to the labour democracy is a single dominant trade union federation. We believe in multiple federations. Worker unity can be achieved in a national labour forum in which all the different federations can participate.
“Consawu is a federation that allows its member organisations to promote the rights of workers as individual organisations, while co-operating within the federation to tackle joint projects. We feel strongly that Solidarity will make a valuable contribution to the promotion of South African workers’ rights within Consawu,” he said.
Kleynhans said Solidarity will take part in the Consawu national congress, which is to be held in Johannesburg on Friday and Saturday. – I-Net Bridge