Numsa Media Monitor

Wednesday 8 June 2016

A daily compilation of local, national and international articles dealing with

labour related issues

New federation

Non-politically aligned trade union is the solution: Vavi

SABC, 7 June 2016

Expelled Cosatu General-Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi says a non-politically aligned trade union can be a solution to adequately deal with workers' issues.

Vavi was addressing members of the newly formed South African Public Service Union at Frere Hospital in East London in the Eastern Cape.

Vavi says a trade union must be independent but that does not mean that we are apolitical, we have huge interests in the politics of South Africa, local government included.

He says: "It doesn't mean that somewhere in the future we may not decide that a political party knows better about the issues that we ourselves are advancing and therefore we may call on workers to vote for that political party."

"But if that political party doesn't deliver, the reason why we want to be independent is so that we can withdraw our support and give it to someone else who delivers and that is the nature of our business and how we relate to politics moving forward," he adds.

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/e4042e804d0b173d8f24ef93fd523eaa/Non-politically-aligned-trade-union-is-the-solution:-Vavi-20160607

South African workers

Murder follows murder at platinum mine

Shaun Smillie, TimesLive,8 June, 2016

Mthetheleli Zefunele never saw his killer. The man who shot him put a single bullet in the back of his head as he was walking down a road.

The member of the committee of the Zondereinde branch of the National Union of Mineworkers died where he fell, close to the four-way stop where the R510 and the Brits road intersect in the mining town of Northam, Limpopo.

Witnesses to the shooting on Sunday said his killer fled down the Brits Road towards the Pick n Pay supermarket.

Zefunele's murder led to the closure of the Zondereinde Platinum Mine and sparked the unrest that resulted in a man being stabbed to death with an assegai on Monday. Both NUM and Amcu have claimed Monday's victim as a member.

There was a heavy police presence at the entrance to the mine yesterday after clashes between two rival unions the day before.

Colonel Ronel Otto said two vehicles were set alight during the unrest, which police estimated involved about 300 people.

Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, claimed that the mine had sanctioned an attack on his union's members.

The mine's management said the aim of its security service was purely to prevent violence.

"Management doesn't want Amcu on the mine," Mathunjwa said, while rejecting claims that Amcu played a role in Zefunele's death.

"If someone is killed in town on a Sunday, why is this considered a workplace issue? Why conclude that Amcu is involved? The police must be given time to investigate," he said.

According to NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu, four of the union's members were killed last year.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/06/08/Murder-follows-murder-at-platinum-mine

Employees to benefit from Telkom deal

Thabiso Mochiko, Business Day, 8 June 2016

IN WHAT it calls a "groundbreaking agreement" with labour unions, Telkom will set aside R750m for the 2017 financial year so as to give its employees incentives, and will also place a moratorium on retrenchments over the next two years.

The fixed-line operator has agreed to limit the proposed outsourcing within its Openserve subsidiary, as well as its consumer and small business and corporate centre departments, to less than 1,000 people.

The agreement, with 11,000 employees belonging to trade unions, will also see the introduction of performance-based remuneration for employees.

Telkom has had an adversarial relationship with labour unions for many years, as its organised employees opposed its retrenchments programmes.

Since 2013, Telkom had slashed its headcount by 7,500 to 13,700 by the end of March 2016, through retrenchments, the issuing of voluntary severance packages, as well as by outsourcing of some divisions.

This has also resulted in a reduction in employee costs from R9.28bn in March 2013, to R7.91bn at the end of March 2016. But between April and May 2016, a further 1,200 employees left the company, reducing the headcount to 12,500 as of June 1.

CEO Sipho Maseko said on Tuesday the nature of the sector was changing, and the decisions related to employees had to be aligned with the group’s financial framework.

The relationship with labour unions had improved and there was more co-operation, he said. "We are entering a new chapter in labour relations."

As Telkom looks for new growth opportunities following the completion of its three-year turnaround plan, growth would require "us to be better at attracting and retaining customers", Maseko said.

In recent years, Telkom has focused extensively on improving its customer service, and this will form a major part of employee assessment.

The agreement was signed with the South African Communications Union (Sacu) and Solidarity, and is effective from this month. The Communications Workers Union has agreed to the new partnership agreement in principle.

Solidarity deputy general secretary Marius Croucamp believes that the agreement was fair, and hoped that other companies within the telecommunications and technology sector would follow suit.

"As a union, we are pleased with the manner in which this year’s negotiations have panned out. Our members at Telkom have been faced with various challenges over the past few years, and we hope this agreement will herald a new era of labour relations with Telkom," Croucamp said.

However, Telkom would still finalise the current retrenchment process of about 300 employees, he said.

Sacu president Michael Hare said that to improve the relationship with the group, the union had to change its stance to a more co-operative one.

Hare said he was pleased that the moratorium could be extended, as "employees need peace of mind".

Telkom’s chief administration officer Ian Russell said that employees would receive a 6% annual increase in April 2017.

Telkom’s share price gained 7.69% to close at R70.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/technology/2016/06/08/employees-to-benefit-from-telkom-deal

Telkom freezes retrenchments for two years

Siseko Njobeni, Business Report, 8 June 2016

Johannesburg - Telkom has agreed to a two-year retrenchment freeze as the company steadies itself for growth after a turnaround programme that saw it shed thousands of jobs.

Telkom has concluded a partnership agreement with trade unions, SA Communications Union (Sacu) and Solidarity. The company said the Communication Workers Union (CWU) had agreed to the deal “in principle”.

CWU close to inking Telkom deal

Telkom has reduced its workforce from more than 20 000 three years ago to about 12 500, according to chief administration officer Ian Russell. The retrenchments have set the company and unions on a collision course.

“There are no forced retrenchments within Telkom for the next two years. We will limit any further outsourcing of people over the next three years,” said Russell. He said Telkom would limit outsourcing to less than 1 000 employees in the next two years.

The agreement with the unions also includes a guaranteed 6 percent salary increase in April next year.

Russell said the company had also come up with measures to motivate and reward employees if they exceeded sales and customer service targets. “We are talking about changing the remuneration profile to one that is more focused on customer satisfaction.”

Telkom said that while the company would not offer employees an annual increase this year the workers could earn as much as 12 percent more each month if they met and exceeded the sales and customer targets.

Telkom chief executive Sipho Maseko yesterday said the negotiations with the unions were open and authentic.

“The trade unions represented their constituencies as aggressively as they could. There was no doubt that all of us wanted to do what is right for the company.

“This agreement with organised labour is the result of many months of hard negotiations and extensive consultation. The open and transparent approach of organised labour has helped us achieve this important milestone.

“Together, we are now in a position to regularly reward employees who have the right attitude and who truly extend themselves, to always put the customer first.”

Solidarity deputy general secretary Marius Croucamp yesterday said the union was happy with the agreement as it would ensure stability and job security for the workers.

“As a union we are pleased with the manner in which this year’s negotiations have panned out,” Croucamp said.

Chief executive at Pan African Investment and Research Iraj Abedian said: “It is good for the employees that Telkom has made a commitment not to retrench anyone in the next two years. Telkom has offered good incentives to its employees and they are prepared to pay them more.”

However, Abedian cautioned that this move might disadvantage Telkom in the long run because the company might lose its best personnel due to early retirement. “The younger and skilled employees might take voluntary packages and get employment somewhere.

“If that happens this might leave Telkom with not so competent staff and the company might be the one being disadvantaged by this agreement in the long run.”

http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/telkom-freezes-retrenchments-for-two-years-2031774

Union and brewers locked in BEE row

Ann Crotty, Business Day, 8 June 2016

A DISPUTE is still raging between the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) and the merging parties in the process of creating the world’s largest brewer in a $108bn deal.

Katishi Masemola, general secretary of Fawu repeated on Tuesday his determination to fight for a better deal for SAB workers when the Competition Tribunal hears the merger between SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) later this month.

Masemola is looking for the early payout of the Zenzele employee share ownership programme, or a once-off payment of R165,000 for each of the about 9,000 employees who are Fawu members.

The once-off payment would cost AB-InBev R1.5bn and, said Masemola, should be seen against the $2.1bn that 1,700 senior managers and executives stand to make from the early exercise of their share options and bonuses.

Masemola said if necessary, he would take his fight to the Constitutional Court. To date, however, he has not managed to persuade the competition authorities that the treatment of the Zenzele scheme members is a public interest matter.

The Competition Commission treated it as a dispute between shareholders that should be attended to by the JSE. Indications are that the tribunal will also regard it as a shareholder dispute and not allow it to derail or delay proceedings.

Masemola’s pledge to fight on came after an announcement on Tuesday by AB InBev clarifying an offer made to members of the Zenzele scheme.

The offer, which is unchanged from one made to Fawu several weeks ago, guarantees a minimum value for Zenzele shares based on the £44 a share offer being made to SABMiller shareholders when the scheme matures in 2020. In addition, AB InBev is offering an advance payment of dividends.

Masemola has dismissed this offer, saying the advance payment was nothing more than an "unsolicited loan" that will use the Zenzele shares as collateral.

He referred to an acceleration clause in the trust deed that allows for early closure of the scheme in the event of a change of control.

AB InBev’s clarification followed the posting of an "information note" on the website of the Department of Economic Development.

The note provides a synopsis of the agreement reached between the merging parties and the government, and refers to a "special dividend payment" to Zenzele participants as one of the "enhancements" AB InBev had committed to making.

The information note gives the impression it is a bonus dividend payment, and makes no reference to it being an advance that has to be repaid.

Emma Reynolds, a spokeswoman for AB InBev, said the department’s description of the dividend payment was nothing more than "a drafting issue".

The department did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Several parties attended Tuesday’s prehearing at the tribunal and have been given the right to make submissions.

They include Heineken, Distell, the taverners’ association and a representative of small business and will not be able to call witnesses.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/retail/2016/06/08/union-and-brewers-locked-in-bee-row

Cosatu, govt headed for a 'state owned' showdown

Mbongeni Muthwa, SABC, 6 June 2016

Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and government are once again headed for a showdown over privatization of state owned companies.

Government is under pressure to implement structural reforms- which include privatization-in order to boost economic growth speedily and avert a downgrade of South Africa to sub-investment grade or junk status by international ratings agencies later this year.

Since last year, talks in government have been dominated by the need to avert a downgrade of the country to junk status by International Ratings Agencies, Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's.

So far, the country has succeeded in that regard.

Moody's decided to maintain South Africa's credit rating at two notches above junk status last month and Standard & Poor's also decided not to downgrade the country last week.

Fitch will announce it's decision on Wednesday and just about everyone expects it not to downgrade the country as well.

But a downgrade is highly likely in December if government fails to implement decisive measures to grow the economy in the next few months.

Investors and the credit ratings agencies also expect the government to stop bailing out struggling state companies like SAA and to in fact sell them to the private sector if it can't knock them into shape.

But privatization has always been a thorny issue.

The country's biggest labour federation has always been bitterly opposed to it because it would inevitably lead to massive retrenchments.

Now, Cosatu fears that government could soon embark on a privatization drive in order appease ratings agencies and avoid junk status.

There's likely to be lots of drama in the coming months as the government races against time to avoid a downgrade to junk status in December.

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/a595ae004d099fe698d6fa93fd523eaa/Cosatu,-govt-headed-for-a-state-owned-showdown--20160606

South Africa

SACP wields big list stick

Thabiso Thakali, The Star, 6 June 2016

Johannesburg - The relationship between the SACP and the ANC - who are key tripartite alliance partners - appears to be teetering on the brink, with just two months before the crucial local government elections.

This is as the tension over the candidate lists for the municipal polls and state capture continues to simmer.

In an unprecedented move, the SACP announced yesterday that it would not endorse some of the ANC candidates who were allegedly chosen fraudulently.

So outraged is the SACP that it now plans to ditch “palace consultations” on state capture and mobilise rolling mass action against the ANC-led government.

The hardline stance was taken by the SACP’s central committee meeting, which met over the weekend to dissect the current political situation in the country.

While affirming support for the ANC in the local government elections, the SACP was adamant that it would not “endorse the corrupting of the ANC processes” that led to the nomination of the ward candidate lists. The SACP said it could not simply pledge support to the ANC on a blank cheque.

“We still reaffirmed our position that we will not support ANC candidates who have come through defrauding or in violation of the ANC prescripts,” said SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande.

“Affirming our support for the ANC means we must also affirm that the ANC processes must be followed.”

This is likely to further heighten the already frosty relations in the tripartite alliance and could potentially weaken the ANC in the upcoming elections.

While the two parties have had differences over some of the ANC’s economic policies, among them labour broking and the national youth wage subsidy, disputes over state capture and the candidates have precipitated the fractured relations.

The SACP has complained of the manipulation of the candidates, especially what it had called the sidelining of alliance partners in some provinces - notably KwaZulu-Natal, where the disputes have also led to killings.

However, both ANC president Jacob Zuma and secretary-general Gwede Mantashe have downplayed the revolt that has broken out ahead of the submission of candidate lists to the Electoral Commission of SA.

On Saturday, Zuma told supporters at the ANC Gauteng manifesto rally at FNB Stadium that the bitter fighting over candidate lists was “democracy at work”. He told the aggrieved members to accept the process and that no changes would be made.

Mantashe, on the other hand, was also unequivocal after submitting the list to the IEC, saying many of the complaints sought to undo the party’s three principles of 60 percent continuity, gender parity and 20 percent youth representation.

On Sunday, however, the SACP was not in a compromising mood, insisting that there had been many irregularities preceding the compilation of the final list. Nzimande said the SACP had raised these at the ANC national list conference.

He emphasised the unity of the alliance, saying this was essential to ensure that key municipalities such as Joburg did not fall into the hands of the DA. “In the course of the election campaign we should not be in denial about the many challenges facing workers, the urban and rural poor, and a broad spectrum of middle strata, professionals, students and the youth in general,” he added.

The SACP reiterated its warning about the dangers of state capture, which has centred around the influence of Zuma’s friends, the Gupta family, over the state-owned entities.

Further angering the SACP, Mantashe revealed last week that an ANC investigation into allegations of state capture by the Gupta family had become “fruitless”. The SACP was quick to call the ANC’s probe a whitewash and a farce.

Nzimande reiterated the SACP’s stance on Sunday, condemning the the Guptas for “the most brazen forms of buying political influence and of even directly seeking to usurp executive powers”.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/sacp-wields-big-list-stick-2030791

State capture may ‘derail alliance’

Ngwako Modjadji, The Citizen, 7 June 2016

Cosatu boss says the issue has become a bone of contention between the ANC and the SACP.

Trade union federation Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini says the ANC-led tripartite alliance risks being left in “tatters” if it allows the issue of state capture to divide it.

ANC and (SA Communist Party) SACP officials met to discuss the matter yesterday after the SACP on Sunday threatened “mass action” against state capture. In an interview with The Citizen yesterday, Dlamini said the issue has become a bone of contention between the ANC and the SACP.

“The day we allow the alliance to be divided by foreign concepts, we will be not worthy to lead this country,” he said.

“Corporate capture is a term that defines a monopoly who want to capture the state for their benefit. It should not be something that divides us.”

Last week, the SACP, which has been critical of the powerful Gupta family and its reported influence over President Jacob Zuma and some of his ministers, labelled the ANC investigation into corporate capture of the state a “whitewash”.

Dlamini also poured cold water on Zuma’s claims at the Gauteng ANC national general council in Irene, outside Pretoria, last month, that there was no such a thing as state capture. He also criticised those who had made allegations about state capture but reportedly failed to make written submissions to the ANC.

Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas, who made headlines for saying that the Guptas offered him the job of finance minister, is reported to be one of the people who did not make a written submission. Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor also made startling revelations about the alleged hold the Guptas have over the state, and former minister Barbara Hogan did much the same by going public about the family’s alleged interference at SAA, which was linked to Mentor’s Facebook posts on the matter.

http://citizen.co.za/1149251/state-capture-may-derail-alliance/

KZN SACP's Mthembu says he will resign as MEC if new role gets in the way

Amanda Khoza, News24, 8 June 2016

Durban – KwaZulu-Natal's South African Communist Party's provincial secretary and newly appointed Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Themba Mthembu says if his new responsibilities affect the party, he won't hesitate to resign as MEC.

"I can tell you now that I am no push over… If the work I do there affects the party then I won't hesitate to resign," said Mthembu at an SACP press briefing in Durban on Tuesday afternoon.

The party was addressing the media after it had lengthy meetings with the ANC over Mthembu's deployment.

Mthembu, along with Bongi Sithole Moloi (Sport, Arts and Culture), Sihle Zikalala (Economic Development) and Mthandeni Dlungwana (Education), was appointed new MEC when Premier Willies Mchunu reshuffled his cabinet.

Mchunu filled the vacant transport portfolio, which he previously occupied, with Mxolisi Kaunda.

All the new MECs were sworn in on Tuesday, with the exception of Mthembu.

Processes flouted

It emerged on Tuesday afternoon that the SACP had learnt about the cabinet reshuffle through the media. When Mthembu was called and informed about his deployment on Monday morning, he had told the ANC that he needed 24 hours to consult with his organisation, but the ANC went ahead and made the announcement.

Mthembu said he only agreed to take up the position after the consultation process and when an agreement was reached that the ANC would deal with some of the issues that were destabilising the province.

"One of the things discussed was the candidate selection processes, which we believe have been flouted. We strongly oppose this list selection process that was conducted, particularly here in eThekwini."

"We just want the ANC to act like its character, the ANC that cares about people… We are facing a very dire situation in KZN. KZN is burning and if KZN is burning, it needs leadership and all these conflicts in KZN need confrontation," said Mthembu, who has been a member of parliament since 2009.

"We know what is happening in Nchanga, Folweni and KwaMashu. Those are some of the things we need to confront, whether we like it or not, whether we like each other or not.

"At the end of the day, it's about stability because we want development, let us not enter into a theatre of enjoying conflict."

Hidden factions

He said SACP members had previously been elected into executive positions but his only gripe was how the matter was handled in the province.

He also said the SACP could not hold the ANC accountable in implementing the agreement.

Mthembu said the SACP in the province has never agreed to or supported a cabinet reshuffle in KZN.

"We said it is wrong to undertake such a task at this particular time, but life must not stop."

Speaking on factions in the province, he said they had always existed within the region.

"Everyone is appointed into a position by a faction. We need to discuss what we are doing about it. In KZN we come from an era of factions. Remember the [Sbu] Ndebele and [Zweli] Mkhize factions? We have never been without a faction in KZN, now and again it raises its ugly head and then is hidden."

Reinforcing the work of the party

Mthembu said he could never be co-opted.

"When you co-opt me, you do it at your own risk. I don't think the ANC can do that. The ANC is actually giving us an opportunity to participate in the development of the country."

He said he wanted the provincial working committee to convince him to take up the position and they had.

Mthembu said whether he delivers or not as MEC will not be dictated by external influences.

"If I sell out, it will show my character. It won't be necessarily a co-option but me showing my true colours. I have been a chairperson of the Agricultural committee. There is no difference in being an MEC."

He said he had been able to lead the SACP as mandated.

"If [my new responsibility] affects the work of the party, I won’t hesitate to resign. It must not affect the work of the party. In fact, it must reinforce everything because we are alliance partners," he said.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/06/06/vavi-lashes-out-at-anc-alliance-leaders

‘Never-ending scandals erode the ANC’ – Cosatu

Janet Heard, City Press, 7 June 2016

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula had behaved in an “exemplary” manner by welcoming an investigation into her conduct over the transportation of a Burundian national to South Africa, Cosatu said yesterday.

Calling on other ANC politicians to follow her example, Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla warned that the “never-ending scandals” by the ANC led government, “risk gradually eroding the high moral ground of the movement and weaken its political capacity to lead society”.

The trade union federation was reacting to the minister’s statement last week that an investigation into the controversial rescue mission would enable her to present the facts in an impartial, fair process.

Pamla said in a statement that it was “refreshing to hear a minister welcoming an investigation and scrutiny directed at them and not claiming a conspiracy”.

“Cosatu believes that it’s wrong and dangerous for the political leadership to always evade or to be shielded and defended from any process of accountability. We do not believe in such double standards, and we expect that our laws should be applied equally to everyone.

“We encourage more leaders to subject themselves to scrutiny and accountability and eliminate bureaucratic arrogance that is threatening our government. We need a responsive and accountable leadership,” said Pamla.

The minister has been accused of smuggling a young Burundian woman, Michele Wege, illegally into the country, abusing state resources and of contravening the Defence Act, among other laws.

She has defended her role in securing Wege’s release from jail in the Democratic Republic of Congo and flying her to South Africa on board a state aircraft in 2014.

She argued that she had rescued Wege from a life of abuse, a claim which has been disputed in subsequent media reports.

http://city-press.news24.com/News/never-ending-scandals-erode-the-anc-cosatu-20160607

Vavi changes his ANC tune

Warren Mabona, The Citizen, 7 June 2016

He said the ANC had proved beyond reasonable doubt that it was still the biggest party in SA.

Former general secretary of labour federation Cosatu Zwelinzima Vavi has made what appeared to be a surprising about-turn when he heaped praise on the ANC for attracting a huge turnout at its Gauteng election manifesto launch at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.

In January, Vavi vowed not to vote for the ANC in the August 3 elections because he believed the government had failed workers.

Vavi described himself at the time as a disillusioned ANC member who was fighting for workers’ interests. He cited what he described as deepening unemployment, poverty and corruption in government as some of the reasons for his stance.

“I am still a member of the ANC but I don’t approve of what is happening in government,” Vavi said at the time.

On Saturday, though, he tweeted that the ANC had proved beyond reasonable doubt that it was still the biggest political party in South Africa.

“More than 80 000 people have gone into the stadium. We have 15 000 people outside the stadium. Please, bear with us we will start [formal proceedings] in no time,” he tweeted.

Vavi yesterday reiterated his praises for the ANC, saying it would remain the biggest party, even in the post-election period.

“They filled the stadium, and that was impressive,” he said. “I have congratulated them for that. The ANC has always been the biggest party and it will remain like that.”

Vavi participated in the public campaigns that agitated for President Jacob Zuma’s removal from office. He also separately criticised Zuma and the ANC leadership on several occasions.

Vavi declined to comment when asked whether he would vote for the ANC and whether he attributed the turnout of the ANC crowd at the stadium to the good work of its leaders, led by Zuma.

http://citizen.co.za/1149269/vavi-changes-his-anc-tune/

International

Why They Won: The Verizon workers’ campaign for union democracy set the

stage for a successful strike.

Alan Maass & Lee Sustar, Jacobin, 6 June 2016

It’s a strike outcome that’s all too rare these days: a corporate powerhouse forced to

drop sweeping union-busting demands by a solid strike of tens of thousands of

workers with widespread public support.

The question now is whether organized labor will follow the Verizon workers’

example and once again make the strike a weapon against the employers’ relentless

attacks.

The tentative agreement — between thirty-nine thousand members of the

Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of

Electrical Workers (IBEW) on one side and Verizon on the other — ended a forty-

five-day strike, with the union successfully holding the line against many of the

company’s harshest demands.

Full details of the agreement are still emerging, but among the highlights, workers

will get a 10.5 percent raise over four years — a modest gain but noteworthy at a

time when wage growth is stagnant across the US.

The unions beat back the company’s demand to be able to send workers away from

their home cities to work anywhere in the Verizon system for weeks at a time. The

company agreed to make 1,500 new hires — most of them call-center workers —

which would counter the trend towards outsourcing.

And Verizon caved to the demand of sixty-five Verizon unionized retail store workers

for a first contract. The number of new CWA members is small, but this is an

important foothold in Verizon’s massive wireless operation, which is almost entirely

non-union.

Another big win for tech workers in New York City in particular was the abandonment

of the hated Quality Assurance Review (QAR), a productivity program that in reality

was a disciplinary tool that led to unpaid suspensions, often thirty days long.

This is a rare gain for blue-collar union employees across the US, who have had

their jobs made increasingly miserable by similar management schemes.

Management also dropped a number of other aggressive demands, such as a cap

on pension credits at thirty years and measures intended to strengthen

management’s hand and harass high-seniority workers into early retirement.

The proposed deal, which will now go to all locals for a ratification vote by June 17,

does contain important downsides. According to the contract summary released by

the CWA, workers will have to pay significantly more in health care costs, both in

insurance premiums and deductibles.

This wasn’t necessarily a surprise to workers, since union negotiators had already

proposed $200 million in health cost “savings” earlier in talks. The health care costs

will eat into the pay hike, especially for union members paying for family coverage.

Unfortunately, the unions didn’t attempt to win back the historic concession made

during the 2011–12 fight that compelled workers to pay a share of health care

premiums for the first time.

Also, the 1,500 new hires promised by the company will apparently be on the lower

tier of benefits and weaker job security negotiated under previous union contracts.

Plus, the company will likely keep offering annual early retirement packages to

speed the transition to a lower-paid, less secure and smaller unionized workforce. To

that end, a Verizon spokesperson highlighted a concession that allows the company

to streamline the routing of customer calls, rather than the current practice of

answering most calls in the state where they originate.

Still, on balance, Verizon workers got more than they gave. And there is a larger

victory here: By forcing the company to drop its central demands, Verizon strikers

showed that workers have the collective power to push back against corporate

America — and win.

Transformative Power

Given organized labor’s recent setbacks and disasters, how did the CWA and IBEW

pull off a victory at Verizon?

It isn’t because the CWA — the dominant union at Verizon — is decidedly more

militant. It has followed most of the policies of other big unions that have failed to

reverse labor’s decline.

Like the United Steelworkers, for example, the CWA responded to the technological

transformation of its industry by bowing to concessions for the shrinking workforce at

still-unionized employers while seeking mergers with smaller unions to keep up

overall membership numbers.

Today, outside of its traditional telecom sector, the CWA represents factory workers,

newspaper reporters, flight attendants, public employees, and more.

Notably, however, the CWA did break from labor leaders’ unquestioning support for

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party establishment’s choice for a presidential

nominee, and instead backed Bernie Sanders’s left-wing campaign.

Having encouraged members to be active in the Sanders campaign and support his

anti-corporate themes, the CWA leadership prepared the ground politically for taking

on the bosses.

The chaotic presidential election campaign this year shaped the terrain of the

struggle in other ways as well. In May, Labor Secretary Tom Perez — angling for

Hillary Clinton’s shortlist of potential vice presidential running mates — upped

pressure on Verizon to settle the strike now rather than let it drag out through the

summer.

But these factors were secondary to the long, fighting tradition of Verizon workers

that came to the fore when the sheer bitterness of rank-and-file union members was

unleashed on April 13.

Though preparation for the strike was uneven, union members turned out in force for

picketing and protests. The signature red shirts of strikers became a daily sight in the

East Coast region, especially in big cities like New York.

The reform leadership of CWA Local 1101 in Manhattan was quick to tap the energy,

organizing picket lines outside hotels where the company was housing scabs

recruited to replace union workers.

That was representative, according to rank-and-file members, of a greater openness

among union leaders to welcoming the initiative of members — which in turn may

have emboldened them at the bargaining table.

Strikers would gather before the sun rose for the scabs’ “wake-up call” — and then

pursued them back to their home-away-from-home late into the night. Unionized

hotel workers honored picket lines, and management at several hotels expelled the

scabs rather than lose other guests.

A judge’s injunction in mid-May curtailed the hotel pickets, but the company had

already suffered another black eye.

Union members, backed up by supporters inside and outside the Verizon region,

organized noisy protests at Verizon Wireless stores — many a customer turned

away at the sight of a picket line.

Probably most important of all, the junior managers and scabs recruited by the

company simply couldn’t replace the thirty-nine thousand trained union workers.

Installation of Verizon’s critical FiOS network ground to a halt.

And, as dozens of video clips uploaded to the Internet attested, the scabs failed

miserably — and sometimes dangerously — at doing union work.

At heart, this was an illustration of the essential power of the strike weapon — when

workers withhold their labor, the employers can’t make their profits. As a CWA shop

steward said in an interview with Socialist Worker:

[A] lot of the important things that happened because of the strike won’t appear in

the contract language, because they happened to the strikers themselves. For a

section of the membership, it was a transformative experience where we really felt

our power. And it was obvious that this came from our personal participation and the

widespread popular support for the strike.

Anti-Concessions, Pro-Democracy

The militancy and mobilization of rank-and-file union members during the strike

harkens back to an older tradition.

In 1989 — during a decade when organized labor was taking a beating — a bitter

strike at New York Telephone, a Verizon predecessor, ended in a union victory

against health care concessions.

The high point of the struggle was an angry mass rally on Wall Street following the

death of striker Gerry Horgan, who was run over by a scab in the New York City

suburbs.

In 1998, workers hit the picket lines once again, taking on Bell Atlantic, by then a

regional company. Two years later, the re-branding of Bell Atlantic as Verizon was

upstaged by another strike.

In both cases, workers didn’t mobilize large-scale picketing that could have stopped

management and strikebreakers from crossing lines. Even so, scab operations were

weak, and the bosses threw in the towel on their key demands.

But for the past fifteen years, the CWA’s numbers and strength at Verizon atrophied,

particularly as the technological change from copper wires to fiber optics made it

easier for Verizon to automate and eliminate union jobs.

The CWA was unable to make headway organizing wireless operations despite

winning a contractual right to do so years ago. Union leaders also campaigned hard

for the passage of a concessionary contract in 2003 that introduced a lower-tier

classification for union members who don’t have the same job security as veteran

workers.

Following that contract, the CWA was on the defensive as Verizon executives

proceeded with plans to build a nonunion workforce in wireless.

The union leadership’s failures led to notable dissension in the rank-and-file — not

only at Verizon, but at AT&T, where in 2009, the CWA made separate, concessions-

filled deals for one hundred thousand workers in regional contracts, rather than use

their leverage for a united struggle.

In 2011, as CWA-IBEW negotiations with Verizon were heating up, CWA members

opposed to concessions backed Local 1400 President Don Trementozzi in a

vigorous campaign for the number-two position in the union on a platform of

opposing concessions and organizing non-union workers.

Trementozzi got 25 percent of the vote at the union’s July 2011 convention.

A few weeks later, the CWA called a strike at Verizon — but suddenly called it off

after two weeks without a contract. When the deal was finally reached many months

later, it included the first-ever unionized worker contributions to health care

premiums.

The bungled strike and contract campaign set the stage for an opposition to win

office in CWA Local 1101 in Manhattan on an anti-concessions, pro-democracy

platform. It was the only CWA local to officially oppose the eventual deal.

In 2015, a new national union president, Chris Shelton, was elected. It was in an

environment of membership discontent that Shelton gave an acceptance speech as

the new CWA president that denounced “Wall Street’s deregulated, anti-union,

trickle-down, one percent economics” and vowed to fight back.

So there was some reason to believe that Shelton — who had opposed the return to

work with no contract at Verizon in 2011 — would match his fighting talk with action

as contract talks began last year.

For their part, Verizon negotiators were confident they could have their way with the

CWA and the IBEW — the business publication Crain’s claimed the unions were “in

the weakest position they’ve ever been” as contract talks began a year ago.

When the company continued to press for union-busting demands like the months-

long out-of-state transfers, Shelton understood that members would rebel over a

concessionary deal while the company was massively profitable.

Bitterness at increased workloads and ever-present surveillance and harassment by

management ran at a fever pitch. So the CWA called the strike.

One Day Stronger

Verizon’s aggressive strategy isn’t new. It’s straight out of corporate America’s anti-

labor playbook that has been in place since the 1980s, as companies used industrial

restructuring, new technology, and a raft of anti-union laws to grind down workers’

power and organization.

With few exceptions, labor leaders, confronted with risking the unions’ viability in an

all-out fight with the bosses, conceded to even profitable employers’ demands for

givebacks.

Their aim has been to protect their shrinking institutions — and their own power

within the bureaucracy — while hoping to somehow revive the old days of “big labor”

and partnership with employers with the help of Democratic Party politicians.

But the employers aren’t interested in “partnership,” and the Democrats are unwilling

to cross corporate America. Concessions have only led to more concessions and a

decline in the percentage of workers in unions from 20.1 percent in 1983 to 10.1

percent in 2015.

In the private sector, the percentage is just 6.7 percent.

The shrinking percentage of workers in unions has, in turn, led to a dramatic decline

in strikes. There were just twelve strikes or lockouts involving one thousand or more

workers in 2015, compared to 424 in 1974, for example.

The fact that the CWA leadership called the strike in April, then, was a testament to

the combativeness of union members at Verizon, as well as a wider dissatisfaction in

the working class. Nevertheless, preparations for this battle weren’t as effective as

they should have been.

Although CWA officials warned in March that a strike was likely, organizing in

workplaces was uneven at best. For example, members in some areas were refusing

overtime for several weeks before the strike, but this wasn’t generalized.

Worse still, the union went into negotiations accepting concessions from the start,

especially those established in recent contract rounds — for example, the proposal

for $200 million in health care cost savings that ended up as the basis of a greatly

increased contribution from union members for health care.

As in previous strikes, CWA members were ready to “follow the work” during the

strike with mobile picketing. But the union hasn’t mounted a strategy aimed at bigger

confrontations at strategic worksites that could try to shut down Verizon’s operations,

rather than delay work at decentralized locations.

In a new approach for this sector of organized labor, the unions emphasized working

with allies toward building a social movement in support of strikers — using the New

York and Pennsylvania Democratic primary elections to get media coverage and tie

Verizon to the anti-boss sentiment expressed in the Sanders campaign.

The union did succeed in damaging Verizon’s brand. The unions’ May 5 day of

action mobilized strikers and supporters for more than four hundred pickets and

actions at Verizon Wireless stores and other sites.

The key was widespread support for the strike. Residential customers and

government bodies cancelled Verizon orders to show their solidarity with the strikers.

There was also the possibility that Verizon would have to pay unemployment

benefits to strikers — another financial incentive to settle.

In the end, Verizon — having lost the public relations war and faced with the reality

that its scab operation wasn’t doing the job — folded on its key demands.

But the outcome, while a victory for strikers, leaves important questions unanswered.

Like what it will take to confront Verizon’s scabbing operation if it doesn’t fail

because of management and scab incompetence.

The CWA and IBEW vowed to last “one day longer” than the company, and they

succeeded in the circumstances of this strike.

But that slogan has failed the test as a strategy in many labor battles over the last

three decades, where company bosses determined to decisively weaken unions

waited out striking and locked-out workers until they were financially drained and

personally devastated.

What’s needed is a combination of the Verizon’s strike’s activism and energy with a

return to labor’s older traditions of taking a stand at the point of production —

blocking scabs to put the pressure on employers to settle.

That, too, is a risky strategy, given the fines and jail time that can come down on a

militant union. But that militancy is a part of the CWA’s tradition that was revived in

this battle — and it’s one that will need to be rebuilt at Verizon and beyond.

What won the Verizon strike wasn’t just good public relations, community allies, or

the intervention of politicians and the federal government, but more centrally the

activism and determination of workers during more than six weeks on the picket line.

If Verizon workers deem this contract to be, on balance, a victory and ratify it, the

outcome can be the beginning of a revival of activism in the CWA. And the strike can

become an important lesson for a labor movement that has been starved of victories

for far too long.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/06/verizon-strike-contract-deal-cwa-ibew-union-

pickets/

Comment and analysis

Violence and economic exclusion nothing new in SA

Steven Friedman, Business Day, 8 June 2016

WE WERE promised two decades ago that politics would cure the ills of our past —

but today, politics has become a symptom of those ills.

Two current news items show how much the past is still with us. Both are playing out

in the ANC but say something important about the country. Both are seen by many in

the mainstream as a sign that we have changed too much but are really about how

little we have changed.

The first is the battle for local government nominations, which often triggers violence

— the second, far more ominous, is the killing of ANC politicians, this time in

KwaZulu Natal although there have been murders elsewhere.

Many in the suburbs will see them as a sign that politics has fallen into the hands of

the uncivilised. But political violence simply repeats the reality before 1994. White

politics may have seemed placid, but was not always so. At one time, National Party

heavies used violence against their white opponents. More importantly, the entire

system was built on force which kept the minority in power and triggered a violent

response from some of its victims.

Under apartheid, the suburbs were peaceful, townships and shack settlements were

plagued by violence — suburbanites enjoyed political freedom, those who lived

outside them did not. Today, everyone enjoys political rights but violence is still a

reality outside the suburbs. Criminals prey on people and local power-holders use

force to hold onto what they have. Some activists who challenge them are killed,

others bullied. Local police are often on the side of those who do violence, not their

victims.

The root of this violence is another holdover from the past — an economy which still

excludes millions. The fight for places on the ANC list is a product of this: because

there are not enough jobs and opportunities, becoming a councillor is the only way

into the middle class. Nor is this only an ANC problem: when the National Union of

Metalworkers (Numsa) began to canvass support for its United Front, its chief

organiser was deluged by hopefuls asking when it was opening nominations for

councillors, despite the fact that it was not a political party. So a campaign for

change was widely seen as a source of opportunity which the economy cannot offer.

This is why people fight for council seats — and are so determined to cling to them.

When local political bosses use violence against rival parties, their main motive may

well be protecting their perks. Poverty also creates opportunities for politicians to buy

support: this gives them a further reason for hanging onto positions at all costs.

Because the economic stakes are so high where the poor live, some protests in

these areas are organised by politicians trying to get onto lists — people know they

are not receiving the public service to which they are entitled and are open to being

mobilised by politicians trying to get in on the action.

The political killings are probably symptoms of the same problem. Research

suggests that, when party office holders are assassinated, they are most likely

victims of others in their own party. Some are targeted because they are in the way

of corruption, others because they are in an opposing faction. But since the factions

are often fighting for money, in both cases, the motive is largely economic.

There is nothing specially South African about this — it is common where people find

it difficult get in on the benefits of the mainstream economy: the US and Italy have

both faced this problem. So it has little to do with anyone’s culture and a lot to do

with being excluded from the economy.

Poverty does not justify violence — the poor are its frequent victims. So, to point to

the economic roots of violence is not to excuse it. Rather, it shows why it grows

despite the pious speeches of politicians and why police are unable or unwilling to

curb it.

The victims of violence cannot be expected to wait until the elites negotiate an

economic path which includes many more people — impartial policing and action by

party leaders can stem the tide, while efforts to bargain an economy which includes

many more people continue.

But both short-term measures and a new growth path rely on politics, which is no

position to help because it has become a symptom of the problem. The ANC, which

promised to change the patterns of the past, is a victim of its failure to do that: its

politicians are more concerned with managing (and in some cases taking part in) the

scrabble for power and patronage which this failure produced than with curing it.

Much of the opposition no longer offers alternatives because it is easier to pin all the

blame on politicians in government.

And so change may need to build outside politics. If politicians cannot do anything to

broaden the economy and tackle the violence it causes, it may be up to key interests

in the economy and society, and active citizens, to begin the momentum which will

force them to change.

• Friedman is director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy

http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2016/06/08/violence-and-economic-

exclusion-nothing-new-in-sa

Op-Ed: Cosatu, Cosatu, why hast thou forsaken us?

Stephen Grootes, Daily Maverick, 8 Jun 2016

If there is one thing upon which most of our political actors will agree, it is this: our

politics moves fast. Things happen very quickly. Even if it looks like those in charge

are going to remain in charge (like, foreeeever), things are happening beneath the

surface. Institutions change, organisations that look rock solid start to slip, other

organisations start to come up and challenge. Nowhere can this be more obvious

than in the sad sight of Cosatu just giving up the fight against corruption, and the

perceived role of the Gupta family. It is a tragedy. For workers, for South Africa, for

all of us.

In 2010, just five-and-a-half short years ago, Zwelinzima Vavi was the general

secretary of Cosatu. The press conferences he held, representing the Central

Executive Committee of the federation, were always electric. Up the dingy, dirty,

dangerous lift of the old Cosatu House one went, younger reporters jumping at each

clang along the way. Into an eating area always immersed in the most interesting

meaty smells, and through to the press briefing area. There, around a series of

tables arranged in an irritating rectangle, Vavi would hold court. Supported by the

thoroughly decent Patrick Craven, he did not need any questions to make news. It

was always in the statement.

And he did not hold back. Almost always, there was a mention of the phrase he

coined, “Political hyenas”. At one point, things got so hectic, three members of the

ANC’s National Working Committee considered suing him for defamation (for the

record, those three were Tony “Three sips” Yengeni, Siphiwe Nyanda, and a young

man who preferred to be known as Young Lion rather than a hyena). At the time, the

ANC even supported them. This attitude of Vavi’s, and by implication of Cosatu’s,

dominated the tone of the alliance. The SACP was the silent partner in this.

Consider the tone of this statement, delivered in 2010, against the backdrop of an

approaching football World Cup (back when Danny Jordaan was happy to holiday in

New York):

“We’re headed for a predator state where a powerful, corrupt and demagogic elite of

political hyenas are increasingly using the state to get rich. Just like the “hyena and

her daughters” eat first in nature, the “chief of state’s family eats first” in this predator

state. We have to intervene now to prevent South Africa from becoming a state

where corruption is the norm and no business can be done with government without

first paying a corrupt gatekeeper."

There is simply no way not to see that as an aggressive statement, aimed at

changing the behaviour of the ANC towards corruption. Note, in particular, the

subtext against Zuma. That reference to the “chief of state’s family” is something that

we can all understand.

Now, contrast that with the events of last week. The ANC decided to can its

investigation into whether or not the state had been captured by the Gupta family.

This is a case that has seen the Deputy Minister of Finance claiming, on official

stationary and in video, that they offered him the job of finance minister, subject to

certain conditions. But in a decision more blatant than anything Cosatu of Vavi had

to contend with, the ANC’s National Executive Committee just stopped the

investigation.

The response of Cosatu President S’dumo Dlamini was this, “We should support the

decision of the ANC. It has concluded the matter. But we should be vigilant of any

form of capturing of the state.”

It is a complete reversal, a rolling over, a betrayal of Cosatu’s promise to protect

workers.

There are some very strange dynamics at play here. Seven weeks ago workers at

ANN7 displayed their unhappiness at the presence of ANC Youth League President

Collen Maine. He claimed to be there to support them, after the main banks refused

to do business with Oakbay Investments. But, when he arrived, he was booed, with

workers chanting in the background that “Maine must go”. (If you haven’t seen the

video, it’s worth the watching). Then ANN7 decided to charge those workers with

misconduct. When the Communication Workers Union representative arrived at their

Midrand studios, they was barred from entering. Dlamini himself had to intervene, to

make sure these workers were represented.

If there is any doubt as to the low esteem in which Cosatu holds the Guptas as

employers, know this: at its conference last year, ANN7 was judged the country’s

worst employer. It would make sense, then, in the name of consistency, that Cosatu

would be first in line to make sure that these terrible employers are dealt with, that

any kind of pressure that can be brought to bear is indeed brought to bear. Instead,

we have Cosatu simply supporting them. Simply saying that the process of the ANC

to investigate whether these exploiters of workers is fine, because it didn’t find

anything.

It’s hard to think of a reason of why this could be the case. Could it be that the

Communication Workers Union is wrong to represent these workers? Surely not.

Could it be about protecting Maine? Definitely not. So what is it? It’s hard not to

conclude that Cosatu, or those who currently lead it, think they must support Number

One at all times and that supporting Guptas equals defending Zuma. The person

whose family is the “chiefs of state’s family” to use Cosatu’s previous phrase from

2010.

It is even harder to make any kind of conclusion in a sentence that does not use the

words like “captured”, or “bought”.

This is surely about much more than Vavi, and his departure from Cosatu. And it’s

about much more than the personality of Dlamini as well. It must surely reflect a

huge change within the leadership of the federation. The people who now belong,

who now dominate, are different from the people who were in that position in 2010.

The most obvious change has been the expulsion of Numsa. As the biggest private

sector union, once they were gone, everything changed. The balance shifted

overwhelmingly in favour of the unions in the public sector. And their bread is

buttered on the side of warm relations with the government sector. In other words,

the ANC, and the people who happen to be running it at the moment.

This means that when one now goes to the New Cosatu House, through the

strangely state-of-the-art security system, up the silent shiny silver lift, and into the

biggest, bestest meeting room known to humankind, one is going to get a very

different message.

It is a sadness that this has happened. We need Cosatu, all of us. It was the one

organisation that seemed capable of protecting us from the corruption of some in the

ANC. It is falling by the wayside. The SACP may fill some of that vacuum. But it is

probably unable to do it on its own.

This is a fundamental shift in our politics. It could still shift back. But for the moment,

it doesn’t look likely.

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-06-08-op-ed-cosatu-cosatu-why-hast-

thou-forsaken-us/#.V1fYgU3lrIU