/ 16 September 2006

Big bang now down to a whimper

Membership of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has stagnated since it ballooned to 1,8-million nearly a decade ago — and the federation is still wrestling with the consequences of that growth spurt.

A survey of Cosatu members conducted by the labour think tank Naledi and released last month indicated that the union federation and its affiliates are meeting members’ needs. But it also found Cosatu had failed to penetrate non-traditional sectors of the economy or set up structures to deal with the “culture change” flowing from increased technical capacity.

Since the federation was launched in 1985 it has changed dramatically. In those days, the average union member was a permanently employed blue-collar worker with below standard eight schooling, said Oupa Bodibe, the head of Naledi.

The latest survey shows that a quarter of union members are professionals. The average union member earns R4 500 a month and 86% of union members have been educated beyond primary school.

It also shows that Cosatu’s affiliates are largely meeting workers’ needs. Between 50% and 70% of union members believed that their unions did well in providing services to halt retrenchments, improve wages, provide defence in arbitration and tackle sexual harassment. The lowest levels of satisfaction concerned transport for workers and support for women leaders.

But as the nature of its membership has shifted, Naledi emphasises it has been unable to grow vigorously or to organise irregular workers.

Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi’s candid report prepared for next week’s national conference shows that in 1985, manufacturing workers made up almost half of the 500 000 members. Public servants comprised not more than 100 000 members — but since 1997 have constituted a full third.

Cosatu’s overall membership has remained fairly constant at about 1,8-million over the past nine years. One positive glimmer in Vavi’s report is the 80% growth registered in the transport affiliate, Satawu, since the last national congress in 2003, and the 44% growth in the police and prisons union Popcru. This reverses a trend of general decline in affiliate membership noted in 2003.

Still, some unions have continued to shrink, such as Satawu, which has shrunk by 48% and the CWU, which declined by 21%.

At the last congress Cosatu set a growth target of 10% to reach a two- million membership base by this year, but achieved only 5%. This target was set in line with Cosatu’s 2015 goal to grow membership to four million.

Vavi’s report highlights the lack of “a concerted strategy around vulnerable workers”. The recruitment of farmworkers continues to be slow, together with efforts to set up structures for the self-employed. There were no plans to improve low levels of union organisation in the retail trade or meet domestic workers’ needs.

Affiliates have also run into organisational problems in the wake of the unexpected “surge of membership” that took place in the 1990s, according to Naledi’s recent document The State of Cosatu.

The document also highlighted “incipient bureaucratism” in the union, which pose a threat to its vitality and shop-floor activism. It argued that the greatest risk facing Cosatu is that shop-floor activists would become spectators of initiatives driven by head office.

Cosatu’s Western Cape secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, remarked this week that the “bureaucratisation of full-time officials” threatened traditions of worker consultation.

Services had declined in some areas because of a “cycle of patronage”, where top union managers failed to hold organisers accountable because they depended on their voting support.

Ehrenreich argued that in the 1980s, a common set of values and political convictions overrode career ambitions. Vavi’s report also criticises “careerism” and the “syndrome of some leaders to negotiate with their CVs under their arms”.

Naledi reveals an upward strike trend by Cosatu unions, from 500 000 hours lost to strikes in 2002 to more than 2,5-million last year.

Bodibe argued that this indicated growing worker discontent with the lack of shared economic growth.

Focus on the presidency

The main contest at the upcoming Cosatu congress will be for the presidency, as some affiliates try to oust current president Willie Madisha, reports Matuma Letsoalo.

The group close to Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi is likely to nominate Eastern Cape chairperson Zanoxolo Wayile for the position. Although it is not a full-time post, the president is responsible for the supervision of the affairs of the federation between meetings of the national committee and the central executive committee. He is the most senior official in the federation, as even the full-time secretary general reports to him. Here are brief profiles of the two candidates.

Cosatu president Willie Madisha

In the past few months Willie Madisha has been pigeon-holed as President Thabo Mbeki’s man. This follows Madisha’s decision to attend a meeting with Mbeki last year in which the country’s president explained his decision to fire Zuma.

Those who have worked with Madisha disagree with the notion that he is an “Mbeki man”. As a leading figure in Cosatu, Madisha has been one of the most vocal critics of Mbeki and his government’s described Madisha, and other leaders in the labour movement, as ultra-leftists.

Born in the rural area of Zebediela in Limpopo in 1960, Madisha is a teacher by profession.

Advantages: He is charismatic, articulate, a unifier and very popular within the working class ranks.

Disadvantages: The general impression that he is opposed to Zuma’s candidacy has alienated him from many of Cosatu’s supporters.

Cosatu Eastern Cape chairperson Zanoxolo Wayile

Zanoxolo Wayile is said to be one of the rare organic intellectual leaders within the labour movement. Born in the rural area of Kwadwesi in Port Elizabeth, Wayile rose to the ranks of leadership as a shop steward for Numsa in 1995.

Described by those who have worked with him as a leader who does not shun community work, Wayile became chairperson of Cosatu in the Nelson Mandela municipality in 1997.

He has been the provincial secretary of Cosatu in the Eastern Cape since 2003. Wayile is also a councillor in the Nelson Mandela Metro, and a member of the SACP and the ANC in the province.

Advantages: Because he is seen by many as a staunch Zuma supporter, he is likely to have the backing of Cosatu’s largest unions such as Nehawu and NUM. He is said to be capable of rising to the occasion, irrespective of where he is deployed.

Disadvantages: Unlike Madisha, he is inexperienced in the trade union movement. He is unpopular within the broader labour movement and Cosatu insiders say the position of the president is too senior for him.