The beginning of workers’ democracy in the Union has come with the election of an Interim Executive Council on 20 March 2000 at a meeting of shop stewards at NDLS. This has come after months of meetings between the workers’ leadership in the Union and the past leadership over the issues of what had happened to the workers’ subscriptions, over tax repayments to workers, and over relationships with the employers. On all these issues the worker leadership received no answers. During this time the struggle for worker control over the union’s activities mobilised workers throughout the docks. Hundreds of pamphlets were printed, there were tens of mass meetings, and international appeals have been made. For the first time the government of the Union’s activities is in the hands of the workers.
The struggle we have come through is not based on the battle of one leader against another. SEIU is now working on the following principles of workers’ democracy:
We are working to entrench these principles through daily work among our members and by leaders setting an example.
There are great challenges to the working class of South Africa:
Despite the terrible problems which have been confronted by the worker leadership, the Union has made a number of achievements in the past few months:
One of the greatest achievements of the executive has been printing about 600 pamphlets carrying news about the resolutions of mass meetings, about the campaign over Vusi’s murder, and about the National Congress. For some days workers around the harbour could be seen reading the pamphlet and discussing union affairs among themselves.
One of the most important achievements of the last few months has been the bookkeeping of the union accounts. Comrade Fally has provided what documents about the union funds there are and these have been entered by Comrade Joe into a computer financial program. This will enable full information to be given to the union’s executive at short notice on what is happening to the union’s finance.
A full report will be given to the meeting on finance, but Joe Guy should be thanked for having worked with Fally and helped on many issues but particularly with the bookkeeping.
Unfortunately in the struggle to bring the union under worker control it has been necessary for some workers to stop paying subscriptions for some time to end the practice of union officials taking the money for their own purposes. This has meant that the union funds are in poor shape just when it is necessary to start spending for the first time on salaries for officials and on premises. Immediately after this Congress subs will begin again.
Our officials will have to keep this fact in mind and to concentrate on building membership to provide the funds which we need to build a stable apparatus.
The lifeblood of the Union is the campaigns which it is running to highlight the grievances of its members and to attract new members. The most important campaign of the moment is undoubtedly the demand that the murder of Vusi Mbeje be solved. Vusi was a hero of the workers’ movement, a comrade who was fearless, and a leader in the community in which he lived. At his funeral speaker after speaker heaped praises on Vusi; his memory will never be forgotten among the Emtateni.
Days before his murder, Vusi made it clear to comrades in Umlazi that if he died it would be because of the struggle in the docks. Immediately after his murder the executive took steps to keep up the pressure on the police to bring the murderer or murderers to justice. A statement has been drawn up to launch the Dockers Defence Campaign to call for funds to get a worker-directed investigation into his death, to defend those workers living under threat of their lives, and to defend the Union. Messages of support have come from union members and socialists in San Francisco, London, Spain, and from Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Letters of appeal have been made to COSATU, to Australian unions, to the International Transport Federation (ITF), and to the ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions). The ITF has sent back messages that they are investigating the issue and will be further in touch. We have yet to hear from a number of these unions and will be pressing them for a response.
In all of this the Union has been working as closely as possible with Vusi’s family and the ANC in Umlazi. Very good relationships have been built up which promise to speed up the investigation. The Union office bearers are almost daily in touch with the police to make sure that this murder case doesn’t become yet another case of 1/20 which are not solved. The lives of worker leaders are at stake until the murderers are uncovered and convicted.
The Union has also been active in other campaigns. The dismissed cleaners whose case has been taken up by the Union have been very active in campaigning for their reinstatement. Altogether about 2000 workers have been affected and Comrade Fally will report on the progress being made in taking their cases through the CCMA and Labour Court. The highlight of the campaign undoubtedly was the march which took place early last year when about 2000 workers marched from Albert Park down to the Department of Education buildings. There were messages of support from a socialist member of parliament in Ireland, from cleaners in Portugal, and from unions in Sri Lanka. The workers carried banners calling for their reinstatement, against GEAR, and for a workers’ party.
The Union has been active in campaigns to defend the NDLS pool. We have fought against the relocation of the pool to the Bayhead. We have held a number of mass meetings about this and to demand a clear future for the workers.
In all our work we have striven to rebuild unity among stevedoring workers, between permanent and casuals, between workers in different companies, and in particular between workers in the pool and private companies.
In the short time that the workers have had control over the union there have been many negotiating sessions with the employers. The past leadership has reduced the prestige of the union to a low level but the new executive has worked hard to get respect. There has been an important meeting with the Stevedores Association at which it was said that “there is a new spirit“ in the union, even though the employers were fearful of the workers picketing outside.
At negotiations with Portnet management, for the first time the Port Manager stayed to discuss with the executive and missed his flight to Johannesburg on a Friday. Some progress was made, but the top management of Portnet seems to feel that the workers in the harbour do not have the right to a place to shelter and that the pool is not a permanent feature of the harbour.
Unfortunately, although Spoornet has taken action together with the Commercial Fraud Branch against Privest, it has not worked together with the Union as requested to be able to uncover fraud against the workers.
The most difficult negotiations have been with Privest. On every point that has been discussed telephonically with the Company there have been a change of position. Nothing which has been said by the company stands the next day. All the problems of labour broking are summed up with the problems the NDLS workers have with Privest:
Privest is not prepared to discuss these matters with the Union at any level or to answer letters from the Union. The first action of the new executive will have to be to take up the legal case against Privest on the matter of tax and subs.
The activities of this Company are a national scandal and letters have been written to COSATU to help develop a national campaign to correct the anti-worker activities of this Company.
Every month it seems that employers are working to take workers from the pool to their companies. As more stevedoring concerns are taken over by multi-nationals or larger national companies by the day so they have an interest in having their own pools and sharing workers amongst themselves. Although the Union wants the best conditions it can get for the workers, and the workers are promised a 3 day guarantee in the pool, we cannot be happy with the new pools.
Many employers are arguing that there should be two or three pools in the docks with each pool competing against each other. This is just another way of saying that the workers should be set against each other and that conditions of work will be adjusted downwards. Already more of the companies are employing scab labour rather than coming to the pool. Companies such as those on the Citrus wharf refuse to work with the pool and pay miserable wages. Such undercutting of the pool will have to be stopped.
The position of the Union is simple: we fought for a single pool, the agreement is based on the idea of a single pool, and we cannot sacrifice the gain we have made. We cannot allow the employers to continue to take advantage of the problems the union has faced with a leadership which had fought the membership.
We must remind the workers with guarantees that their position depends on the gains we make in the pool. The guarantees must be made to the workers in the pool and not given to some to weaken the others. We are fighting for a 5 day guarantee and we can see that the so-called 3 day guarantee is nothing of the kind.
The executive has worked hard to attract new members into the Union. Unfortunately this has been very difficult due to situations where workers can see the presence of men with guns at meetings. Unfortunately in some companies the workers are considering resigning because of the activities of the past leadership. Other unions are entering into the docks. This has to be turned around and new members recruited. Every member must become an organiser! Help build 100% membership in every company!
Some really good news has been that workers in insurance and finance are wanting to join the Union. We are preparing to change the scope of the Union to be able to welcome them into our ranks!
A report on organisation cannot end without thanks being given to the leaders of the workers who have stood up when threatened, who have attended meetings when they are not sure they will leave alive, and who have had to try to explain what has been happening in the Union when members have not been happy to listen. The truth is now for all to see.
The time of union corruption, violence against members, and robbery of workers has come to an end! We now have to build with workers in other industries, develop newspapers and media to carry the voice of the workers, and work together with other unions, civics, youth organisations, and campaigning groups to build an organisation to speak for the workers.
Let us pay tribute to Vusi and to the worker leaders who could have shared the same fate, but who stood firm. We thank all those who have sent messages of support and who are prepared to do more.
Let us unite for workers democracy in the Unions, for a living wage and decent conditions, for genuine democracy in our country, and for socialism here and internationally!
Dr David Hemson
Social Policy Program
M Block
University of Durban-Westville
Private Bag X54001
DURBAN 4000
South Africa
Phone: 27 31 204 4752 or 204 4670
Fax: 27 31 204 4535
e-mail: dhemson@pixie.udw.ac.za
