Stayaway success unites
opposition
ORGANISE ON
STARVE!
A COSATU organiser in Pietermaritzburg President Botha
The three-dar ». Alrica on June n a new high lever e
7 and
among the workin land of apartheid, writes CHARLIE VAN
ig cias in the writes GELDEREN
THIs was BY
tar tr- • Of It5 x•
erican
history and the on It was called ... relations amendt- reDression of the for a three Nationar C COngress ane 1961 collap» the second dar T ing class has - to the bosses thar tr them gues on respite cmergency ane de». racist state apparatus.
On the first da: 1988. Over ISr o the call 18 thout tha
abour
us calls
Afr
Afro»
1. 10c0
Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) in 1958 and 1961 collapsed for lack of support on
Tratul
the second day. The organised black work-
yume and inst apar
Irom strik
the tran
nent
Jur
prunde Thruu
African Trade Unions (COSATI) and the
rival federation National Council of Trade
Unions (NACTU) co-ordinated their actions:
Although the numbers were somewhat less on the sccond and third days (see box), the momentum continued. This despite the fact that the bosses warned that no wages would be paid for workers who absented themselv- es and threatened other disciplinary mea- Only the draconian threats from the
the araconsan threats from th
chamber of mines — dominated by the
"liberal' Oppenheimers and Anglo- American — succeeded in keeping the mi- ners, still suffering from the defeat of last
year's strike, at work. Even here not all miners were intimidated. The National Union of Miners claim that 35000 joined the protest. A chamber of mines spokesper- son admitted that at least six coal mines and two diamond mines lost production. Never- theless, the minimal support from this vital
sector reflects the demoralisation among the miners after the strike.
All the car plants and thousands of mainly white-owned factories and places of business were closed although the usually militant retail sector was affected by the split in Ccawu. The initiative for calling the stayaway was taken at a special conference
Unly
Chamber "likery.
of COSATU in May. This bold move was taken despite all the omens being unfavour-
.. be
Hl PIC
Nions DL...
"rganisatio"
akane such
past success
dependent.
ndl
int
coptions, they have been called to coincide
ade unions ar
with s01
...alled to collease * 3 commemoration Mav Dav.
.. restrictic
such as Sharpeville or May Day.
June 6 was not such a commemoration
and as a result of mergency restrictions,
community and township organisations
such as the United Democratic Front (TDF) and the National Forum have been greatly
satI
STEN
Dr
weakened.
Ri
Robert Godsell, a representative of big business and a strong supporter of the
labour relations amendment bill, asked con- fidently in an interview with foreign cor-
app
sici the
Il. акксс
fidently in an interview with foreign cor-
you can take i number of respondents,
people away from work for three days, but
when the sun rises on Thursday morning
what has changed?" Some hours later. God-
sell was in Cape Town for talks with man- power minister Piet du Plessis to discuss
COSATU's demand to submit the bill to
... ds. CODI
cuing God-
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 8 July/September 1988
arbitration, and when the sun rose over the
horizon on the
wifter the stayaway, the minister had offered tosuspend part of the draft law.
The Labour Party, which had previously supported the bill, announced support in the coloured house of delegates. motion requesting that the bill be sent back to the parliamentary standing committee for 'scrutiny of certain conditions". (The bill
Monday
Total number ofemployees covered hy survey: Figures for black (African and Indian) workers staying ate aj.
Monday
Wednesday
72%
48%
0-30%
28%
38,856
Wednesday
66 65
17 92 82 89 10 81 84 29 24 77 75
36
43,750
72%
must pass through all three houses of parlia-
be referred to the president's council before it becomes law.)
There were other clear signs that the wayaway had achieved one of its objectives - to force a re-think of the anti-union Iegislation which had had the tulsome sup-
day. COSATU met with the South African consultative committer on labour affairs (SACCOLA), which represents the major emplover federations, to discuss the techni- calities involved in submitting the bill to the scrutiny of an independent tribunal. Also signficant is the decision taken by COSATU's
white, "coloured and Indian' — or
Natal
executive committee to consult SACEU about its planned mectings with SACCOLA.
That the government has expressed wil- lingness to discuss the content of the law — in response to an action which is expressly prohibited under existing and legislation — is an oblique recognition of the
power of the organised forces oflabour.
The three-day protest was to be the beginning of a campaign against the gov-
Prument clamp-down on opposition groups. After considerable debate COSATU's special conference decided to convene a conference ofa broad range of anti-apartheid organisa-
ofa broad range of anti-apartheid organisa- fions to focus on opposing apartheid repression". In addition to the call for three
days of national peaceful protest' it was also decided to hold demonstrations at fac-
lories every Tuesday to protest aginst the labour relations amendment bill. This legis- lation will entrench racial divisions in the unions, It also aims to prevent the unions.
from engaging in "political activities'.
The decisions taken at the emergency
it agu ... Tine
from engaging in "political activities'.
** SUOIS conference give the appearance of stretch-
t: 11) 53111.
ing out a hand to other sections of the population which are gravitating toward a
tendency to act in union against a common
According to reports from de-
legates, the central debate revolved around
the question of whether NACTU and groups
which include white liberals, such as the Five Frecdoms Forum should attend the
NACTU affiliated unions did not come
into COSATI: when it was formed berause of disagreements over the question of white leadership within the trade union move- ment. Since then, NACTU has modified its
position. It remains hostile to white leaders
drawn from middle-class intellectuals but
65 51 82 93 84
13
68
Total number ofemployees covered by survey in Nataland PWV region: 122,60G economically artize blacks are employed in this are and more than half of industry and commerce is located
PWT: Pretoric-Witwatersrand-Vereiging
the industrial heartland of South Africa. 30 percent of
not be scen as an alternative to this.
allies, to set up a planning committee
which will draw up a programme of action
and which will invite organisations to at-
This would, according to one delegate.
white leaders emerging from the ranks.
There is, however, another major stumbling
block. At its last conference.
adopted the Freedom Charter as the basis
for its political platform. NacT: has grave
doubts about whether the Freedom Charter
is a sufficient expression of the aspirations of
the working class. It has also refused to
refins
sen
endorse the Azanian Manifesto.
In the same speech in which he appeared
to open up to other sections", COSATU president, Elijah Barayi went on to em- phasise that the broad anti-apartheid front should be based on the principles of the Freedom Charter. In this Barayi scems to be raking a harder position than the leader- ship of the African National Congress. A
recent meeting between the ANC and NACTU
issued a joint statement in which it was
stressed that the issuc of the Freedom
Charter should not be a stumbling block to
There appears to have been a thorough-
ly-aired debate over the issues involved from which three main positions evolved. One block of unions argued that COSATU's drive to create broader unity in the face of the government crack-down should focus on worker organisations and other township- based organisations. A second group urged that it should embrace all anti-apartheid
organisations including those with white
liberals in their ranks. The third position
insisted that COSATU should build on its.
existing alliance structure with affiliates of the United Democratic Front and that the proposed anti-apartheid conference should
What was finally agreed would appear to be a compromise between the three posi-
tions. It instructs COSATU's central execut-
ive committec, together with its traditional
allies, to set up a planning committee
"allow COStIU together with its allies to draw up a programme that will be consi groups such as NACTU and the Four Frec-
d the F
InvIte air Free
What remains in doubt is whether organ- isations outside COSATU, such as NACTU.
will be prepared to take part in such a
conference if they are to be excluded from
the drafting programme of action. There
can be no doubt, however, that there is a
growing demand for a united front against
the increasing repression and this demand
was forcefully expressed by many delegates
at the emergency conference.
• wncu "On-
To dis ==
the drafting programme of action. There can be no doubt, however, that there is a
reetully by the close raNATU and NACTU navaway and bv the in Natal despite the
19