EDUCATION SECTION: GIWUSA’s Approach To The CRISIS And our Response

On the 31st March and 1st April 2009, the Shop Stewards Council of the WITS BRANCH of GIWUSA met and discussed the prevailing economic crisis and the impact on bargaining.

In looking at these matters the Council discussed the main sources of the crisis, noting the following:

1. That the economic crisis is caused by the greed of the capitalists for more profits. As capitalists they have not been achieving the same level or rate of profit as in previous decades. To rectify this decline in the level of profit, the capitalists are creating an economic crisis;

2. That over the past three decades the capital- ists, to counter the declining profits, have been trying to make easy profits by engaging in very risky financial gambling like selling home mortgages to the poor, re-packaging debt and selling them off, and by generally gambling on the stock exchanges.

3. That this risky and toxic financial market has now imploded burst.

4. That the years of super-exploitation of the workers through labour brokers, outsourcing, temporary work, have caused workers not to have sufficient buying power, with the result that there is an over-production of goods which not many people can buy.

5. That the governments, both SA and other countries, have pursued neo-liberal policies like GEAR facilitated the super-exploitation of the workers by the capitalists and facilitated their reckless gambling.

6. That this crisis is not of the working class making and therefore the working class must not take responsibility for it.

7. That the Union must intervene in the economic crisis to defend the jobs, buying power and live- lihoods of the working class and the poor.

8. That the Union’s intervention must build and strengthen the organization, build links and alliances where we can challenge the power of the capitalists and lay the basis for socialism.

Immediate measures

A). Bail Outs With Conditions

• Bail outs with conditions are to be considered as an immediate defense measure to protect the jobs and income of workers.

• Bailouts with conditions are to be considered as an immediate defense measure to increase the control and power of workers over employers and government in terms of how they use the tax-payers money.

Our demands to the Government on Bail outs:

1. Government must provide bail outs to companies in distress on the following conditions:

• moratorium on retrenchments
• full wages of workers guaranteed
• full access to financial books and trade information

Workers’ right to negotiate decisions relating to investment, production and employment.

No use of labour brokers and outsourcing

1. Where a company refuses the bail out with conditions, the government must nationalize such a company. Such nationalization must ensure popular control over thus a nationalized company.

1. B) Short-Time And Lay-Offs

• full wages guaranteed by government – source funds from SETAs and government funds

• Government, SETAs and employers fund train- ing for those on lay-off and short time and to be used for training on hard core skills

• Work Security Fund to be established in chemical industry – employers are to contribute.

• No impact on right to sick leave, annual bonus and negotiated insured benefits within provident funds

C). Immediate Relief For Retrenched And Short- Time And Lay-Off Workers

• Free basic services like water, electricity and sanitation
• A moratorium on foreclosures (evictions)

• Government to bail out workers with debt

• Banks to be forced to renegotiate bonds

• Workers on lay-off to be absorbed in EPWPs

• Unlimited UIF

A). Ban Labour Brokers

• Labour brokers are to be banned out rightly, no regulation. 

Programme of mobiliation

1. In pursuing these demands the Union must build links and alliances with progressive unions, social movements, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs).
2. The Union must work towards Section 77 Protest Action on these demands and in preparation the Union must do the following:

• Organise a petition on the demands

• Petition to be submitted to government

• Get other movements to endorse the petition

• Launch the petition at the May Day Rally

1. The Locals of the Union must engage with Local Governments to put our demands to them.

2. Locals are also to link with organizations in the communities and discuss with them our demands and campaign.

3. The Union is to intensify its political education on the economic crisis.