/ 26 June 2007

Strike: Cosatu branch not withdrawing

Confusion reigned at a press conference of the Western Cape branch of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Cape Town on Tuesday.

After calling a media briefing on the ”suspension” of the public-service strike, Cosatu organiser in the province Mike Louw told journalists: ”We’re not suspending the strike.”

However, there are unions within the union’s provincial federation that have done so. Louw declined to name them.

He described the wording of a Cosatu statement released earlier on Tuesday as ”unfortunate”.

The statement clearly said public-sector unions in Cosatu ”will be announcing the suspension of their strike in the Western Cape”.

Confusion reigned at a press conference of the Western Cape branch of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Cape Town on Tuesday.

After calling a media briefing on the ”suspension” of the public-service strike, Cosatu organiser in the province Mike Louw told journalists: ”We’re not suspending the strike.”

However, there are unions within the union’s provincial federation that have done so. Louw declined to name them.

He described the wording of a Cosatu statement released earlier on Tuesday as ”unfortunate”. The statement clearly said public-sector unions in Cosatu ”will be announcing the suspension of their strike in the Western Cape”.

Asked if the province had received a mandate from the Cosatu national office for the statement it had issued, Louw appeared uncertain. ”We sent [it] to national office. Whether they received it or not, we’ll have to check,” he said.

Among other things, the statement pronounces on a possible return to work: ”The actual date of return to work will depend on the national joint management committee [JMC] and their decision on Wednesday.” The JMC is set to meet in Pretoria at 7pm on Wednesday.

The statement also says unions involved in the public-service strike ”will … be calling on the ANC [African National Congress] national policy conference to take a stand on the strike and the manner in which wage negotiations were conducted by the minister”.

The ANC’s national policy conference is set to start in Gauteng on Wednesday.

Louw said there is much unhappiness about the way Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi has handled wage negotiations during the course of the three-week strike. ”We feel that there should be some censure [at the ANC conference] with regard to the manner in which the minister has handled the matter.”

It has been handled in a manner that ”completely disregarded the very constituency that the ANC appeals to when it comes to elections”, he said.

Speaking at the briefing, South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) provincial chairperson Sabelo Mali emphasised his union is not suspending the strike. ”The strike continues for Sadtu,” he said.

Sadtu is ”collecting a mandate” from its members in the provinces, and whether it suspends or continues strike action will be announced by the union’s national executive on Wednesday evening, Mali said.

Contacted for comment later on Tuesday, Cosatu national spokesperson Patrick Craven said that unions within the federation are in the process of consulting their members. ”And we will see tomorrow [Wednesday] evening on the way forward.”

He said Cosatu’s general secretary in the Western Cape, Tony Ehrenreich, will issue a statement to clarify what was happening in the province.

Division

Cracks emerged in the strike on Monday after two unions representing about 160 000 members withdrew from one of the largest mass actions in post-apartheid South Africa.

The Health and Other Services Personnel Union (Hospersa) earlier accused Cosatu of pursuing a political agenda in the strike over pay.

”We believe that the offer that the government has put on the table is a fantastic offer for us, but we also believe that the strike is now pursuing a political agenda,” Hospersa president Gavin Moultrie said.

”What was a mature wage dispute weeks ago has now been turned into a political game by the leadership of Cosatu and Sadtu [the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union] and we won’t be a part of that … they are being greedy and opportunistic,” he said.

Divisions between unions, due to resume talks with the government on ending the strike on Wednesday, may ease pressure on President Thabo Mbeki and the ANC, which starts its crucial policy conference the same day.

”From experience we know that this means an end to the strike is near. This will strengthen the ANC and give the impression that it is in control in South Africa as it holds the policy meeting,” said Susan Booysen, a political analyst at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Labour has accused Mbeki of promoting big business over the poor. Hundreds of thousands of workers have taken part in the strike that has highlighted deep divisions between the ANC and its powerful trade-union allies.

Unions, which collectively represent about 60% of the country’s nearly one million public servants, have lowered their demands to a 9% pay rise.

The government, which fears a dramatic wage hike would crowd out other spending, has tabled a final proposal of 7,5% and told unions to take it or leave it.

The South African Reserve Bank has warned a large wage increase would further fuel inflation and raise the prospect of more interest-rate hikes. — Sapa, Reuters