WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD
By G.
Dunkel
SOUTH
AFRICA:
Struggle against
privatization continues
For two years the South African Municipal Workers Union
has been fighting a plan to privatize municipal services
throughout the country and turn its members' jobs over to
part-time workers with no benefits. In the United States this
practice is known as "outsourcing." In South Africa it's
called "casualization."
The plan was adopted by the municipalities under the
pressure of an investment boycott by the white South African
capitalist class and the international capitalists, who
control South Africa's vast wealth and resources.
One of the major labor issues of recent years has been
SAMWU's struggle against this attack on the living standards
of South Africa's poor and the workers who provide essential
services.
After long negotiations and many protests and job actions,
including a
national strike on Nov. 16, SAMWU members felt they had won
at least a partial victory. The municipal governments agreed
to keep all current workers on the job until they are
eligible for pensions.
The Greater Johannesburg Metro Council, however, refused.
It agreed to guarantee employment for only three years. And
if the private company running local services lost money, the
council said, it could lay off workers before then.
The Johannesburg council claimed it has to outsource
municipal services to reduce costs, arguing that the current
system could force it into bankruptcy. SAMWU Deputy
Secretary-General Tom Ngobeni accused the council of trying
to trick the workers and misinforming them.
He said SAMWU leaders will meet with local union members,
estimated at about 20,000, on Nov. 28 to get a mandate for
further struggle. The union is also consulting its lawyers
about the double cross.
SWAZILAND:
Strike challenges
anti-union law
Swaziland, a small feudal country located between South
Africa and Mozambique, appeared to blink after the Congress
of South African Trade Unions, the Swaziland Federation of
Trade Unions and other progressive forces imposed a two-day
economic blockade against the country.
Three months ago, Swaziland decreed that workers would be
held personally
liable for income losses or damages resulting from strikes
and other industrial action. It effectively imposed
government appointees to run the workers'
organizations.
King Mswati III, the country's absolute monarch, has ruled
by fiat since he banned political parties in 1973.
Led by Secretary-General Jan Sithole, the SFTU conducted a
vigorous two-day strike campaign Nov. 14-15 with COSATU's
support. The strike had a serious impact on the economy.
Sithole was put under house arrest.
Then the U.S. government and the United Nations
International Labor Organization stepped in, fearing an
escalation of the struggle and not wanting the SFTU, COSATU
and left-wing forces to get the credit if the anti-worker
decree was reversed. They said Swaziland had violated
conventions guaranteeing labor-union rights.
Washington went so far as to threaten Swaziland's
participation in the recently passed Africa Growth and
Opportunity Act, a NAFTA-style plan pushed by U.S.
corporations.
That put the Swaziland government in an untenable
position. Its economy flourished under apartheid because it
could serve as a screen for South African exports by putting
itself forward as the country of origin. It also got a
substantial chunk of its budget from a customs union with
South Africa that will end soon.
Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini told the French Press
Agency Nov. 25 that parliament would modify the laws to focus
on punishing acts of violence in industrial disputes.
Mswati's 1973 decree banning political parties is still in
force.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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