- Title
- Workers News - 1998 A fighting year for SAMWU
- Creator
- SAMWU
- Subject
- SAMWU
- Date
- Nov 1998
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/113347
- Identifier
- vital:33751
- Description
- You will all remember that in past editions of this magazine we have touched on the anti-privatisation campaign which all comrades have been active in. I must say it is a great pleasure for me to write this message, to thank all the NGO’s, international labour movement, individuals, COSATU and community organisations for all their support. The process of implementing the antiprivatisation campaign has not been an easy one. Just after we started with the campaign, the union was attacked and claims were made that SAMWU was counter-revolutionary. The attacks were clearly intended to shift the focus from the campaign to mud- slinging. They could not match us when it came to knowing the facts of privatisation and it’s terrible effects on the community, and the role politicians play once services are in the hands of the private sector. Despite these attacks, SAMWU still feels that the resolution we adopted to oppose privatisation was the correct one and we hope it will be the correct position for years to come. For a very long time we have campaigned against privatisation alone. Recently ESKOM was intending to privatise electricity. This led to the whole matter of privatisation being discussed at the first COSATU Central Committee meeting in August this year. A resolution was adopted to oppose the ESKOM move and also to oppose the privatisation of any municipal services. COSATU took this matter to NEDLAC, where it was clear that government was going ahead with the process of privatisation regardless of our concerns. A deadlock was reached after days of negotiations. COSATU was forced to call a national strike after realising that government was adamant about implementing their programme of privatisation - comrades might remember that this strike was scheduled for September 23rd, 1998. COSATU and SAMWU were again under attack and individuals within our ranks became labelled by those who are "pro-privatisation." This was a difficult time, but we kept our cool as a union and stuck to our position of anti-privatisation. COSATU stuck to their position that there should be strike action, because again the attack was to shift us to a different terrain of struggle contrary to the one we had prepared ourselves for.
- Format
- 44 pages, pdf
- Publisher
- South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU)
- Language
- English, Zulu, Sotho and Afrikaans
- Rights
- South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU)
- Rights
- No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | SAMWU Workers News November 1998.pdf | 6 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |