LABOUR AND POLITICAL EDUCATION
The origins of many labour movements in the region can be traced back to liberation struggles for national independence. In Namibia and South Africa organised workers (NUNW and COSATU respectively) were one of the most visible and effective social forces advocating independence and social change. After independence their links with the former liberation movements, now in power, remained close. In other countries however, labour movements that once were close allies of liberation movements found themselves the foremost advocates of democracy and thus openly challenged the ruling parties of the day. Due to their relatively large social bases, trade unions in Zambia and Zimbabwe played key roles in the formation of political opposition parties that ousted ruling liberation movements (Zambia), or presented a serious political challenge (Zimbabwe). Swaziland is also characterised by serious conflict between government and labour. In countries like Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique, however, union federations were actually established in response to government initiatives and, even today, hardly play the role of independent working class organisations.
After independence, unions in the region redefined their roles and places in peaceful but neoliberal environments. As hardship set in under neoliberal rule and promises made by the new regimes failed to materialise, social movements sprung up to fill the void created by political parties and unions. Casualisation became increasingly common. In response to these developments, the unions in countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa are actively engaged, though in different ways, in wider economic policy issues alongside regular union bread and butter issues. On the contrary, unions in other countries confine their activities to shop floor issues.
While union membership shrinks due to mass retrenchments following mine closures, privatisation, structural adjustment programmes and the latest global crisis, unions are still the best organised sector of civil society and their power and influence cannot be measured statistically – about 40% of Southern Africa workers are union members. The force of trade unions has been impressively demonstrated by mass action in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa where they challenged government policies and received support from NGOs and community-based organisations (CBOs). However, formal labour constitutes less than a quarter of the total labour force in the region. The majority of the population ekes out a living in the unorganised informal sector.
Union influence is sometimes hampered by a lack of trade union unity at national level and the lack of strategic alliances between labour and other organisations representing marginalised constituencies.
RLS Southern Africa currently implements, in cooperation with partner organisations, projects concerning:
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research and training like the Labour Diploma in Namibia (LaRRI) and in Durban (Workers College) and the COSATU/UCT Diploma in Education that strengthen the unions in their struggle both on the shop floor and around broader socio-economic issues
- research, training and public debate on government (neoliberal) policies and alternatives
- production and dissemination of information on labour issues and alternatives
For more information please contact Jos Martens, Project Officer at: jos@rosalux.co.za
COSATU / UCT
Congress of South African Trade Unions /
University of Cape Town
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was launched in December 1985 after four years of unity talks between unions opposed to apartheid and committed to a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. It currently has a membership of more than two million workers, of whom at least 1.8 million are paid up. Even by international standards it has been among the fastest growing trade union movements in the world. During 2010/11, the Adult Education Programme at the University of Cape Town will run a specially tailored version of its Diploma in Education course (Adult Education) for members of Cosatu’s Western Cape Gender Committee.
Institute for Social and Economic Research - Rhodes University
The Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) is a research institute of Rhodes University serving both the university and broader Eastern Cape community. The Institute is involved in a range of socio-economic research with a strong Eastern Cape bias, although its research interests reach further into south and east Africa In 2005, the university created the new Matthew Goniwe Chair in Development and Society, to which Prof. Ruiters was appointed, that will focus on the development challenges facing the Eastern Cape and promote critical engagement with the state and civil society. In this context, it initiated the ISER-RLF Summer School. From 2010 onwards ISER will offer specialised graduate courses in Social Policy.
The Labour Resource and Research Institute
The Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI), founded in 1998, caters for the research, education and information needs of the Namibian labour movement. The impact of its research goes beyond the confines of Namibian trade union discussions and policy formulation – it influences national debate and, at times, policy formulation. LaRRI has become a source of information on labour and development issues and its resource centre is frequented by trade union visitors, NGOs, government as well as students from the University and Polytechnic. In addition, it provides a platform for public discussions on topics like privatisation, foreign investments, inequality, uranium mining and NEPAD. LaRRI’s publications are made available for download on its website. LaRRI’s education programmes for trade unions combine acquired knowledge with analytical skills and thus strengthen the capacity of trade unionists. To meet the demand for its educational programmes, the Institute developed a labour diploma course in collaboration with the Workers’ College in South Africa and the University of KwaZulu-Natal. LaRRI is a founder member of the African Labour Research Network (ALRN), that conducts research projects across Africa on issues like privatisation, gender and labour market liberalisation, transnational corporations in Africa, Chinese investments, gender in trade unions and alternatives to neoliberalism.
Read about: BIG – Basic Income Grant, Namibia http://www.bignam.org/
Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ)
An initiative of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), LEDRIZ was registered as a Trust and started operating in September 2003. Its Board comprises six trade union leaders, four academics and it employs four full-time research economists in addition to other regional project and support staff. The Institute’s main objective is to develop, through research, policy positions designed to influence development processes and outcomes at national, regional and international level. Given the extent of crisis and paralysis in Zimbabwe and the need for coherent policies to resuscitate the economy, development-orientated research institutions like LEDRIZ play a strategic role in providing technical assistence to the inclusive government.
The Labour Research Service
The Labour Research Service (LRS) was established in 1986 as a non-profit labour service organisation and continues to specialise in research, dialogue-building and developmental projects with the broad aim of strengthening civil society and a particular focus on the world of work. The LRS sees trade unions as vital organs of civil society and seeks to build the capacity of these organisations to act effectively as agents of change towards egalitarianism. The role of the LRS is to support and inform the development of coherent trade union strategies that resist, contest and constitute alternatives to neo-liberalism. Its current programme activities involve building a resource base and developing capacity for collective bargaining.
Namibian Farm Workers Union
Farm workers remain the most vulnerable group in Namibia. They have very low incomes and are victims of racist and exploitative practices at the hands of their employers, are isolated from the larger urban communities and are cut off from the rest society without access to education, health or other social services. This is not peculiar to Namibia, but is generally the case in most countries particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa. The plight of farm workers is of major concern to Namibian civil society and the trade union movement in particular. Evidence that this sector of the labour force is politically oppressed and economically exploited led to the launching of the Namibian Farm Workers Union (NAFWU) on 1 May 1994 by the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), Namibia’s largest trade union federation.
Southern Africa Trade Union Coordination Council
The Southern Africa Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC) was established in March 1983 in Gaborone, Botswana. SATUCC is an umbrella organisation of 14 national trade union centres from 12 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, i.e. Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa (three affiliates), Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Altogether, these affiliate national centres represent some seven million organised workers. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Seychelles are the only SADC countries where unions are not yet affiliated with SATUCC. This is largely because these countries joined SADC fairly recently and their trade unions are not properly organised. SATUCC identified a number of goals around key economic, social and political issues, including the promotion of labour standards, union bargaining rights, review of national, regional and international trade and investment policies to reflect labour interests and strengthen regional integration. It has been developing responses to privatisation, negotiating and campaigning for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), HIV / AIDS and chemical safety standards at SADC level and in all national laws, as well as advocating for equitable public health systems and more informed participation around policies on social security. One of the important outcomes of these struggles is the adoption by SADC member states of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in Southern Africa – an initiative of SATUCC and its affiliates.
SEATINI
The Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) is a regional non-governmental organisation, founded in Harare in 1997, working in Eastern and Southern African countries on trade issues. Its core business is building the African capacity to negotiate better trade deals at international forums (WTO, EPAs, AGOA, etc) by equipping negotiators with trade negotiation skills and information.
Workers' College
The Workers’ College is a non-profit service organisation that serves the labour movement in South Africa and on the continent of Africa. It focuses primarily on raising the consciousness of trade union activists at a political, social, and economic level, and developing their capacities so that they are able to overcome challenges, especially in the current neo-liberal climate. The Workers’ College consistently strives to link trade unions with community organisations. Both are confronted by the same issues and work with the same constituencies. Instead of combining their efforts to tackle issues affecting the inextricably linked areas of work and community, they dilute the process by working in isolation.
Workers World Media Productions
Workers World Media Productions is a non-profit NGO. It serves as a labour support organisation, an independent labour media production house that is owned and controlled by the labour movement. Its target groups comprise:
- The trade union movement
- Working class communities – especially marginalised sections – youth, women and the unemployed
CARES
The Centre for Alternative Research and Studies (CARES) provides political education to trade unions and social movements in Mauritius; it offers labour law consultation to trade unionists, hosts seminars on labour legislation, economic and social policies, environmental issues, food and energy security and will soon provide an online resource centre for trade unions and social movements.
