Sunday Independent.png Thermidorian Trade Unions New federation no easy option for COSATU 'rebels' The ethics of those who may be architects of the new federation are questionable Dumisani Hlophe, Sunday Independent, Johannesburg, 14 June 2015 South Africa will soon have a new labour federation. Its formation is being spearheaded by the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) leadership and former COSATU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. The court ruling that dented NUMSA's quest to return to COSATU has given the COSATU rebels enough justification to talk openly and pursue the formation of a new labour federation. NUMSA general secretary Irvin Jim and Vavi are able to claim that they tried all they could to unite COSATU, but all avenues have been shut to them. Therefore, they are likely to argue, it is time to establish a new federation. Even if they had found their way back into COSATU, their political agenda would have remained the same. This would have been: move COSATU to the far left; review its political alliance with the ANC; pull COSATU out of the alliance and possibly assume a more aggressive stance towards the ruling party. For some time, Jim and Vavi have decried the "sweetheart union" between COSATU and the ANC. Perhaps not COSATU as a whole, but the leadership, headed by Sidumo Dlamini. Their quest to return to COSATU is motivated by the desire to wrest power and position the federation in opposition to the ANC. The quest to return to COSATU was not motivated by a desire to return to business as usual. It was motivated by the wish to claim the leadership core of COSATU, to position COSATU on the far left and as highly critical of the ANC government. Although the new federation will assume this posture against the ruling party, it would not be strategic for Jim and Vavi to move ahead and form a new federation. First prize would have been to capture the leadership core of COSATU. COSATU has an established labour structure, policies and procedures. Rather than going through the labour pains of forming a new federation, all they would have needed to do was to redirect a federation with a rich history. A return by Jim and Vavi to COSATU would have led to acrimony. They would have been unable to lead in partnership with Dlamini and his lieutenants. It is for this reason that Jim and Vavi pushed for COSATU to hold a special congress partly with an elective agenda. This was why they wanted to take part in the impending special congress. They would have pushed for a possible election agenda. In this way, they would have campaigned to be elected into leadership while campaigning against Dlamini and his lieutenants. The special congress would have been marked by contestation. Unity in COSATU would have been out of reach. Jim and Vavi are left with the option of establishing their own federation. Rather than having the COSATU short cut, they would have to do the spadework, mobilising, attracting, convincing, and registering members. This would be far more work than merely redirecting an existing organisation. They would have to build a federation. This much could be assumed of a new federation: it would be leftist, and it would avoid political alliances, although it would have political ambitions of establishing a socialist state. Although it might not enter into political alliances, it would probably enter into electoral pacts. That is, it might encourage its members to throw their weight behind a certain political party, without necessarily being too prescriptive. In this regard, the EFF would probably be a new labour federation's closest ally. The federation's prime target would be the ANC government. It would accuse it of abandoning the liberation mandate encapsulated in the Freedom Charter and of corruption. The federation's political discourse would be similar to the EFF's, albeit more measured in tone. The second target of the new federation's political venom would be the COSATU leadership. The falling out between Vavi, Jim and Dlamini would, for a long time, define the political discourse between COSATU and the new federation. The new federation would probably speak ill of the COSATU leadership while avoiding alienating the members of COSATU affiliates. Its strategy would probably be to turn members against COSATU's leadership in the hope that they would flock to join affiliates of the new federation. Once established, the new federation might find itself with a small problem. It would have to prove it was not part of a "sweetheart union" and not embedded in the ruling party leadership. Moreover, it would need to prove the new federation leadership truly looked after members rather than seeking to get into the corridors of power. The federation might find itself having to embark on militant labour action. The leaders would have to talk tough and secure serious concessions for whatever they were protesting for. If they failed to secure significant concessions, they would not be starting on a high note and the road ahead would be steeper. They might have to start as the EFF did in Parliament, but with a sense of adulthood. While the new federation battled to establish itself as a major force, COSATU would continue to be weak. Dlamini does appear to be embedded in the leadership of the ruling party, or a part of it. It is increasingly difficult to determine whether he is speaking on behalf of COSATU or himself. His stewardship of COSATU is glaringly suspect. The ethics of those who may be architects of the new federation are also questionable. The way Vavi left COSATU is not in itself revolutionary. But the allegation that Jim went to Nkandla to ask that Vavi be appointed deputy president will sustain the accusation that his stance on the ANC is rather more personal than ideological. While the leaders of organised labour leaders fight among themselves, the working class masses suffer. * Hlophe is political analyst at the Centre for Development Research. Twitter @KunjaloD ** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media. Sunday Independent From: http://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/new-federation-no-easy-option-for-cos atu-rebels-1.1871324#.VX3N2fmqqko -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. 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