Unfinished business: current and past trade union leaders' perceptions of the political transition after the first decade of democracy (1994-2004) in South Africa
- Authors: Mpunzima, Kayalethu Wycliff
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Labor unions -- South Africa , Democratization -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:11001 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1284 , Labor unions -- South Africa , Democratization -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: The study reviews the political transition after the first decade of democracy from the trade union leaders’ perspectives. It seeks to understand whether trade union leaders see workers as having reaped benefits from their struggles. Interviews were conducted with ten current and past trade union leaders on their perceptions about the political transition. The trade union leaders that were interviewed have rich experience of combining their organisational and mobilising strength with strategies of engagement. Their involvement with trade unions can be traced back during the dark years of Apartheid. Some of them are still active members of trade unions who are deeply involved in policy formulation at national level. Others occupy influential positions in the private and public sectors. The study investigates and analyses the labour movement’s objectives, strategies and struggles from the apartheid, transition, and democratic eras and into the future. It looks at how these objectives were achieved and how the strategies were implemented. The study revealed that progress was made in the political sphere, e.g. a parliamentary office was established to ensure that workers have a voice in parliament. The study found clear evidence of influence by the labour movement in economic and labour legislation through structures like NEDLAC. In the economic arena, the study found that workers’ economic expectations were partially fulfilled. Trade union leaders attributed this to the failure of the government’s GEAR policy to create jobs. They insisted that RDP should be implemented. The study revealed evidence of serious tensions within the ANC/COSATU/SACP Alliance. The study found that the influence of the labour ally, COSATU, in the Tripartite Alliance had been curtailed. The study also found that the strength of the labour movement eroded during the first decade of democracy. The research found that the labour movement took new initiatives such as union investment companies. The research also found support for the theory that COSATU’s obsession with alliance politics was a barrier to labour unity. COSATU was not involved in the merger talks between FEDUSA and NACTU. The respondents generally felt positively about the future prospects. Respondents were mostly optimistic about the political transformation. If there was slow delivery or no delivery by the government or business, the unions vowed to take to the streets.
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- Date Issued: 2010
Public sector industrial relations in the context of alliance politics: the case of Makana Local Municipality, South Africa (1994-2006)
- Authors: Makwembere, Sandra
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3301 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003089 , Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: This thesis is in the field of Industrial Relations. It concerns a micro-level investigation of the dynamics of public sector industrial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. It focuses on the Tripartite Alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and explores what the Alliance relationship has meant for the traditional roles of employees and their representatives on the one hand, and employers and their representatives on the other. The thesis examines the political, organisational and societal contradictions and implications for COSATU public sector union affiliates and their members in their relationship to the ANC as an ally (via the Alliance) and the context in which ANC members form part of management (in government). The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) was used as an archetype of a COSATU public sector union affiliate that engages with the State as employer at the municipal level. It is a case study of Makana Local Municipality (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) using qualitative research techniques and content analysis to derive the relevant information. The author conducted a series of in-depth interviews of key informants and observations at Makana Local Municipality were done. Based on the empirical data obtained from the investigation, the thesis argues that the traditional roles in the employment relationship at the workplace have been affected by the political alliance. Industrial relations roles have become increasingly vague especially since many within local government share ANC/SACP memberships with members of the trade union. The study also highlights that within an increasingly globalising post-apartheid environment, the Alliance provides mixture of benefits and challenges for workplace negotiations and employment relations in ways that macro-level analyses of employer-employee relationships do not always capture.
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- Date Issued: 2007