Impressions of the Sikula Sonke Second Congress

In this article Ighsaan Schroeder gives an overview of the recent Sikhula Sonke second congress

We drove through the gates of Witzenburg Game Farm in Ceres two hours after dark. We had traveled from Cape Town, armed with an ultimately accurate map provided by Sikhula Sonke, but one needing some creative interpretation and a nimble hand on the steering wheel. We did not mind. It was impressive that the union had sent us a map digitally in the first place, and it made the trip more interesting. On the gravel road leading to the farm we passed an organizer accompanying a taxi driver. She cheerily informed us that she was on her way to collect yet more delegates, something that would probably only be concluded deep into the night, since worker representative from the different farms lived many tens of kilometers apart. To fill just one ten-seater taxi could literally take hours. This brought home one of the big difficulties of organizing farm workers, namely, the sheer geographical distances that have to be covered to get to different groups of workers, unlike industrial areas where factories in the same sector are often concentrated in a particular and relatively confined industrial area. Inside the conference hall there was already a large number of delegates, dressed in the bright green shirts of Sikhula Sonke, all busy with preparatory tasks. Some gif music was playing in the background. It was clear that the day’s work had started early for so many delegates already

to be present. Some familiar faces flashed warm, welcoming smiles. But the thing to leap to the eye was that it was overwhelmingly women present in the hall. This is hardly typical of union gatherings. The registration tables with their registers, name- tags, bags and T-shirts were ready and waiting. The occasion was Sikhula Sonke’s second congress, held from 6 to 8 August this year. As comrades who had attended big industrial union congresses before, we were very taken with the level of preparation and readiness. Union congresses can be chaotic affairs. We were served some warm soup by the catering staff of Witzenburg who were equally welcoming, seemingly reveling in the sight of their class sisters taking their lives into their own hands. This added to the sense of solidarity and common purpose that was to be the hallmark of the next few days.

After receiving our nametags, T-shirts and bags we were ushered to the rooms the union had provided for us. We spent the rest of the evening reading the congress documentation, promising to brush up on our fire making skills in the face of repeated failure to persuade our fire to co-operate.

The next morning we were a little surprised to find the 120 delegates on their feet and singing with gusto when we entered the conference hall at 8.40 a.m. This was another illustration of the level of organization we had witnessed the night before. We had expected to wait for more delegates to arrive, and for the congress to probably get going only around 9.30 if not 10.00 am.

Since its founding congress in 2005, the union has organized 3500 farm workers on more than 120 farms. It has also signed over 56 collective agreements with farmers on wine and fruit farms in the Western Cape. In a context of very low levels of unionization of farm workers in South Africa, these are extra-ordinary achievements. More impressive has been the kind of union being built. Among the union’s founding principles are women’s leadership, members control and community development. While at least the last two principles will be found in most established unions’ constitutions, these are rarely practiced these days. None of these unions, not even those with majority women members, are committed to women’s leadership. Gauging from the general secretary’s report to the congress, Sikhula Sonke actively strives to live by its principles, and has much to teach the established labour movement.

Since its last congress in 2005 the union has made submissions on farm workers’ labour and tenancy rights, and human rights more generally. It participates in a provincial development council, was part of a process that led to a food security conference and its members have participated in a range of campaigns such as the 16 Days of Activism in conjunction with other organizations. At the same time the union has launched its own living wage campaign, has campaigned against evictions, violence against women and took on a high profile campaign against the British retail chain, Tescos, to improve the working and living conditions of its members on a farm that supplied the company. It is also part of a range of networks, including one taking up farm worker issues in Southern Africa and another taking up the land reform issue in South Africa.

The union has taken up issues such as defense of women’s reproductive rights in a way that involves whole communities, not only its members. The union itself refers to its brand of organizing as social unionism. Alongside all this activity the union has also devoted much energy to its internal, institutional development, including its administration and finance management. And had the time to set up a choir. This with a membership of only 3 500.

From the level of discussion from the congress floor and the number of delegates participating in the discussion and debate it is clear that the union has managed to root itself deeply among its members, and that its structures are functioning well. Women were in the majority at the congress, the majority of those seated at the front table and those who spoke from the floor were women. The men present in the congress seemed accepting that this is how it should be. At no point did the dominance of women in the congress become an issue.

But there is a long, hard road ahead. There is still a lot of organizing to be done, in the face of all the old problems of distance and the peculiar power relations between farmers and farm workers that make farm workers reluctant to unionise. To these have to be added more recent problems of the greater use of casual, immigrant and seasonal labour, which makes organizing farm workers even more difficult. The union has to constantly assess its various organizing and collective bargaining approaches to find what works best, for farm workers in general but also for the most vulnerable workers in particular. In fact, much of what the union is doing may hold valuable lessons for the labour movement more broadly, especially in relation to vulnerable workers such as casuals.

The smallness of the union also has implications for its financial self-sustainability and ultimately, its political independence. Farm workers earn very low wages and are rarely able to sustain their own organizations. Sikhula Sonke is no exception and the union still depends to a large degree on external funding to survive. Also, while an undoubted vibrancy derives from the range of issues the union has involved itself, there is the danger that it can over-extend itself by taking on too many issues at the same time. Not least, as the union expands and the number of men drawn into the union grows, the union will find that asserting women’s leaderhip in the union will be an on-going fight. In the end, the Sikhula Sonke second congress was an inspiration not only to the delegates but also to some long-standing unionists who have grown alarmed by where the labour movement is going.