Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2000. Graduate Programme in Political Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 548-596). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ59119.

M.Comm. / Unemployment in South Africa is a growing concern. With unemployment reaching proportions, poverty and related crime levels are on the increase. Government, pressured by organised labour groups, is looking at all possible means of creating employment. COSATU, as a representative of organised labour, are calling for increased state participation in the economy in order to improve the "workers" plight. COSATU has identified retirement funds as a potential source of employment creation. Worth some R600 billion, retirement funds represent 35% or more of total savings in South Africa, and provide about 60% of local finance to companies. COSATU view these assets as belonging to their members, i.e. a large part of the funds consist of workers' deferred wages in the form of savings for retirement. COSATU believes that these funds should be invested in areas that promote their members' plight. At the end of October 2000, the Economic Empowerment Commission will have handed their formal empowerment proposals to the President. In an article, which appeared in the Financial Times on 14 September 2000, "Blueprint set out for black advancement", details were given of the Economic Empowerment Commission's expected proposals in this regard: "The black economic empowerment commission has proposed wide-ranging recommendations to reinvigorate black economic empowerment, stimulate fixed investment and accelerate economic growth. Commission Chairman Cyril Ramaphosa revealed an outline of the full package of the commission's proposals for the first time yesterday during a joint briefing of several parliamentary committees. The commission has called on business, labour and government to reach an "investment growth" accord and adopt a national black economic empowerment strategy.

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Sociology to the Faculty of Humanities,School of Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2019 / This study examines the responses of the South African trade union movement to the impacts of the Great Recession. The Great Recession is used to refer to the world economic crisis of 2008/9. Its impact on South Africa had enormous implications for the South African economy and its workers. The report reflects on and critiques how trade unions in South Africa responded to the impacts of the crisis on workers. The focus of the report is on the three trade union federations, COSATU, FEDUSA and NACTU, which were the main federations and ‘official’ representatives of organised labour at the time. The report studies and critically reflects on the theoretical perspectives of the trade unions and their policy and organisational responses to the impacts of the crisis. In its critical engagement with the trade unions’ perspectives and organisational responses, the report is theoretically grounded in a Marxist perspective. These perspectives and responses are studied against the historical background of the international and South African labour movement. The historical background is used to frame the purpose and role of the trade movement, which provides a basis to evaluate the trade union perspectives and responses to the Great Recession. The fundamental proposition of this report is that the trade unions are elementary organisations of labour whose purpose is to organise and defend interests of the workers and to regulate the terms of the relations of the producers with the employers. The historical context also allows comparative analysis of the trade union responses in the Great Recession with the reactions in the previous crises, and the changes that took place in the trade union politics. To understand the trade union politics and responses, the study focuses on the theoretical analysis, policy declarations, and political and organisational reports of the federations and, in some instances, those of their affiliates. Interviews, archival and participatory research also assisted in collecting data. The main conclusion of the report is that the trade union movement failed the workers. The workers have shown determination to fight, reflected in the number and militancy of their strikes. Unfortunately this will to fight was not matched by the political leadership of the trade union movement with political strategy, perspectives, and campaigns to harness this will to struggle and to unite various contingents of the working class into a mass movement that could defeat the neoliberal austerity measures and provide fighting and revolutionary alternatives, as workers have in previous crises internationally. / NG (2020)

Thesis (MA (Political Science. International Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The effects of ‘accelerated globalisation’ can not be denied when observing modern innovations shaping human life. Its development and consequent revolutionary impact is unlike any other in modern history. The last half of the twentieth century witnessed changes in exponential terms, such as informational and technological innovations that constantly redefine the way people function. This study focuses on the effect of globalisation on trade unions, paying particular attention to the formation of liberal economic conditions, the rise of global capital flows, and the diversification of workers, working conditions and employment patterns. Globalisation has led to the formation of new social, economic, and political conditions which have made it increasingly difficult for trade unions to function in traditional ways. At the heart of this lies the fundamental opposition of capital to labour, and increasingly so under conditions of global competition. Trade unions, are organisations that represent worker interests through solidarity and strength in numbers, traditionally at the national level but increasingly they are being challenged on a global level. Thus, due to various internal and external factors, the situation many unions find themselves in is one of survival instead of growth and influence. The case study of Cosatu was chosen due to the benefit of analysing the organisation’s past success as well as present situation. Although it has not been unaffected by the problems facing unions worldwide, it has managed to achieve some notable successes in the process. The practice of social movement unionism has been highly effective in mobilising under-represented groups, and is found to still be effective in South Africa, although at a diminished scale. It is imperative for all unions to restructure the way they function so as to incorporate previously marginalised groups, to utilise technology and globalisation to their advantage, and to educate potential new entrants to the labour market.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc. (Sociology)) - Rhodes University, 2007.

Thesis (MTech (Human Resource Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012. / South Africa and Nigeria are both African countries, while the former is located in the southern region of the continent, the latter can be found in the western region. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is the largest trade union federation in South Africa with twenty-nine affiliate unions. The trade union federation entered into an alliance with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government owing to their long-standing involvement in the struggle for freedom during the Apartheid era in South Africa. Conversely, the Nigeria labour Congress (NLC) is the only trade union federation in Nigeria with forty-two affiliates. Their political alliance is with the have the Labour Party. The study examines and compares the two trade union federations' administrative and leadership styles. Also, economic, political and social involvements of the unions are examined and members' perceptions with regards to these two union federations promote the interest of their members are compared. Quantitatively designed close-ended questionnaires were distributed to members of (COSATU) and NLC affiliates. The members were drawn from South Africa Municipality Workers Union (SAMWU), South Africa Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), Nigeria Union of local Government Employees (NULGE) and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT). Various questions were asked about the trade unions federation's performances regarding some union-specific areas. Participants were required to grade the unions' performance based on their opinions with regard to assessment of their functions. This study also, discusses the unions' performances in the past, and relates it with their present activities, as well as areas, which union members hope to improve. Results from the questionnaire were coded, cleaned and cross-tabulated by using SPSS. A chi-square test of association was used to determine significant levels of association. Levels of significant differences were determined at p≥ 0.05. The overall result shows that workers still believe in trade unions activities and representation.

South African trade unions affiliated to Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have taken advantage of the arrival of democracy and newly found opportunities available through Black Economic Empowerment to venture into the world of business by setting up their own investment companies. The declared desire behind these ventures was to break the stranglehold of white capital on the economy and to extend participation in the economic activities of the country to previously disadvantaged communities. Using the National Union of Mineworkers and the Mineworkers’ Investment Company as case studies, this dissertation seeks to determine whether unions affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) are advancing the struggle for socialism through their investment schemes. Secondly, the dissertation determines whether, in the activities of the schemes, internal democracy is preserved and strengthened. The theoretical framework of this dissertation emerges from arguments advanced by Lenin and Gramsci on the limitations of trade unions in terms of their role in the struggle against capitalism. In addition, the argument draws on the assertions by Michels regarding the proneness of trade union leadership to adopt oligarchic tendencies in their approach to leadership. Of interest is how, according to Gramsci, trade unions are prone to accepting concessions from the capitalist system that renders them ameliorative rather than transformative. Drawing from Michels’ ‘iron law of oligarchy’, the thesis examines whether there is space for ordinary members of the unions to express views on the working of the union investment companies. By looking at the extent to which the investment initiatives of the companies mirror the preferences of the ordinary members of the unions, one can determine the level of disjuncture between the two. The study relies on data collected through interviews and documentary material. Interviews provide first-hand knowledge of how respondents experience the impact of the investment schemes. This provides a balanced analysis given that documents reflect policy stances whereas interviews provide data on whether these have the stated impact. What the study shows is a clear absence of space for ordinary members to directly influence the workings of union investment companies. It is also established that, in their current form, the schemes operate more as a perpetuation of the capitalist logic than offering an alternative system.

Cde President, Willie Madisha, Cde Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary and all COSATU national office-bearers, leadership of COSATU affiliates, leadership of the ANC present, Cde Jeremy Cronin and the SACP delegation, local and international guests, cde delegates. As the SACP we are deeply honoured by the invitation to come and address your congress. This occasion might go down in history as one of the most important congresses in the history of this Federation, this, the 8th Congress of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis is a comparative study of competing education and training (ET) policy options in South Africa today. The thesis examines the economic and ET policy proposals of the South African state, and in particular, the recently published National Training Strategy and Education Renewal Strategy. These documents are both critically examined and contrasted with the policy proposals which are currently emerging in the African National Congress (ANC) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). The analysis establishes a continuum of ET systems, with the policy proposals of the South African state representing a <low-skill equilibrium' system and the Framework for Lifelong Learning document of the ANC/ Cosatu reflecting a more highskill equilibrium' orientation. A <macro-institutional' theoretical perspective is employed throughout the thesis, an approach which combines a focus on the e macro' structural features of capitalist society with an analysis of the vast nexus of interlocking social institutions existing at the sub-structural level. This macro-institutional approach is particularly evident in the manner in which two key theoretical themes have been foregrounded throughout the text. The first has to do with the central macro' question of the market/state relation and its relevance for ET. The second has to do with the e institutional' dynamic of" the interaction between the ET system, the labour market and the organisation of work and the manner in which this interaction mediates the impact of ET on society and economic performance. The strength of the <macro-institutional' perspective is that it emphasises that the reform of ET in isolation of other societal changes is insufficient in the pursuit of higher productivity and improved economic performance. What is essential is comprehensive reform: reforms which impact on a whole range of key institutional locations. This requires coherent and long-term planning, a form of governance most often obtained by consensual co-ordinated market economies and seldom under free market conditions. The conclusion to this thesis suggests that the ANC/ Cosatu economic and ET proposals are more likely to obtain comprehensive reform' of the South African social structure than those proposals emanating from the current state.

University of the Witwatersrand Discipline of Psychology MASTERS RESEARCH REPORT / This study conducted a thematic content analysis qualitative methods approach to explore the perceptions of the “Impact of the 2012 Marikana labour unrest on labour and industrial relations in South Africa”. Perceptions of industrial relations stakeholder role efficacy; causes and consequences of labour-management conflict, intra-union conflict and inter-union conflict are discussed. Economic, political, sociological factors as well as the influence of group dynamics are discussed to frame the impact of the 2012 Marikana incident on labour and industrial relations in South Africa.