From yesterday the Service Employees Industrial Union has been picketing the premises of Privest in Stamfordhill Road, the labour broker which had previously managed the National Dock Labour Scheme, to demand the tax which had been deducted from their wages be returned. The company refuses to acknowledge that the workers earned less than the tax threshold and that the tax deductions should be returned. Instead it claims it paid the tax over to Willie Cirah, a previous union official, as, they argue he had a ‘mandate’ to take the workers money.
The workers are demanding of the police present that they arrest Jimmy Fulton, the previous manager of the NDLS for the theft of the tax which should have been returned to them. The workers toyi-toyi, singing songs in praise of our murdered comrade Vusi Mbeje, and predicting victory in the struggle. The white neighbourhood has opened its windows to witness the confrontation of labour broking by the exploited. Somewhat surprisingly there has been quite a bit of support from passing vehicles; many white metal workers also have grievances against labour broking.
For the first time the Union has received press publicity on local radio stations and in the Daily News and the suffocating silence around the many struggles of the Durban dockers is being broken. Up to now the local editors have argued that the miserable conditions of the workers and the murderous assaults on union officials put the marvellous city of Durban in a bad light. Now they have been forced to provide some news of conditions, if not support to the workers.
The dock labour pool as been saved despite most employers wanting to have it demolished. This is a victory, but there are precious few benefits: no pension, no wage increase for 6 months, or new uniforms. But we have fought and saved the pool, we will fight to get the pension through demands on the port management as well as employers, and we have won a funeral benefit which the workers want.
We demanded a worker-controlled dock labour pool but the employers refused to act as employers i. e. to pay wages immediately after work was performed. The union had no money in the bank to fund the wage bill on the basis of delayed invoices and we refused to operate as labour brokers. Employers then insisted on another labour broker coming in to manage the pool so they can pay for labour some weeks after it has been completed. We are now negotiating with the new manager for a new and better system of rotation.
The employers are demanding that ’undisciplined’ and ’intimidating’ workers be removed from the pool. Instead we have agreed to a grievance procedure which will allow specific disciplinary charges to be made e. g. drunkenness or assault, but also our complaints over arbitrary changes in hours, incorrect recording of hours, wrong manning levels, etc.
We are trying to work to the San Francisco labour model. The new manager is now prepared to sit with us and a San Francisco longshoreman to discuss the rules and conditions for a new pool. We urgently need to have discussions with our San Francisco comrades and other dock groups internationally to solve a number of our immediate problems. An email has been sent to Brian McWilliams of the ILWU and we hope to hear from the longshoremen soon.
There is no progress whatsoever in solving the murder of our comrade Vusi. We are now getting in touch with the Investigating Complaints Directorate as yet another agency to try to get things moving. Vusi’s father is constantly ringing to ask why no progress is being made. We desperately need legal resources and the time to devote to getting the murderer prosecuted; some of the gangsters associated with the killing are prepared to talk, but they have to be tracked down and negotiated with to give evidence against the killers.
We continue to appeal for support.
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
