With the rise of the new social movements and increasing number of protests over service
delivery in South Africa’s poorest townships, many activists have started to question
whether unions are able to relate to the demands of the unorganised and poor. It is argued
that under the new democracy COSATU has become bureaucratic and is too closely
aligned to the ANC to challenge government policies and play a transformative role in
society. Such concerns are not entirely new. Labour historians and industrial sociologists
have long debated the political potential and democratic character of trade unions and
there is a vast literature documenting the organisational styles of unions in South Africa
today and in the past. Based on examination of union archival records and interviews
with key informants, this study traces the emergence of the ‘workers control’ tradition in
South African trade unions. ‘Workers control’ is a unique approach based on non-racial,
industrial trade unions, which are democratically organised on the factory floor. Such
unions, which are ideally controlled by elected worker representatives at all levels and
united nationally on the basis of sharing common policies and resources, create the basis
for an autonomous movement that promotes the interest of workers.
Although most closely associated with FOSATU (1979-1985), this study found that
workers control had deeper historical roots. Workers control was a product of the
ideological and organisational renewal that characterised the 1970s and was initially
created by the Trade Union Advisory Coordinating Committee (TUACC) in Natal and,
later, the Witwatersrand. TUACC, which included significant numbers of women
employed as semi-skilled production workers and unskilled migrant men, reflected
complex shifts in the labour market and the economy. It was in this context that ordinary
union members together with a diverse layer of activists developed TUACC’s unique
approach to organisation. The power of white university trained activists in determining
union policies has been overestimated and worker leaders, particularly more educated
women workers, played an important role in building TUACC unions. Based on a
Gramscian analysis, TUACC maintained that democratic unions based on strong shop
floor organisation could exploit loop holes in the law and participate in industrial
structures without undermining union autonomy and democracy. TUACC, however, was
less clear of how to relate to political movements and parties. TUACC distanced itself
officially from the banned ANC to avoid repression, but some workers and unionists
looked to homeland and traditional leaders for alliances. This tension between the
creation of a democratic trade union culture and the workers’ support of more autocratic
political and traditional leaders and populist movements was never resolved.
All of TUACC’s affiliates were founder members of COSATU and this study gives us
some insight into the traditions that inform COSATU’s responses to social movements,
political parties and the state today. Drawing on the insights of the Anracho-syndicalism,
this study also highlights some of the dangers of separating the economic and political
activities of workers into unions and political parties respectively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4760 |
| Date | 15 April 2008 |
| Creators | Ulrich, Nicole |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 818118 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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