IOL latest.png FAWU and COSATU set for tug of war over supporters Theto Mahlakoana, IOL, Johannesburg, 28 August 2016 COSATU and one of its founding unions, the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU), will soon be entangled in a war over members on shop-floors in several sectors across the country. FAWU members resolved to disaffiliate from the trade union federation at a congress this week, setting COSATU off on a mission to create a "warm home" for the union's members who want to remain in its fold. The offer made by COSATU after its central executive committee (CEC) meeting this week has angered FAWU leaders. They claim the federation is launching a FAWU spin-off, which was set in motion months ago. "We view it as a threat, and the congress was very clear that when we leave COSATU it will not be an easy thing, there will be an equivalent of LIMUSA called LiFAWU or something like that. "So when they refer to a warm home for workers, it simply means that. "We have a responsibility to inform our members about this congress decision and defend FAWU from being attacked by this new home that COSATU may set up," said FAWU general secretary, Katishi Masemola. But COSATU general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali has denied a new affiliate is being formed. "We did not discuss forming another union. "The broad principle in the CEC was that FAWU members must find a warm home in COSATU. "It would not be necessary to form another union because FAWU members would be able to join other COSATU unions." FAWU's exit from COSATU is the climax of a two-year struggle between the two, with the union resorting to a boycott of constitutional meetings in protest against the National Union of Metalworkers of SA's (NUMSA) expulsion. The loss of FAWU will hurt COSATU which is still reeling from the vacuum left behind by NUMSA. Its replacement, LIMUSA, is struggling to penetrate the steel sector. FAWU members said the trade union federation had abandoned their issues as workers, and lost its might as a militant and campaign-driven organisation. But COSATU dismissed this claim. It says it gave the union R800,000 in legal fees to deal with the SAB merger as an example of its support. This was despite FAWU owing the federation millions of rand in affiliation fees alone. COSATU is upping its recruitment drive and will go to sectors where FAWU is organising vulnerable workers. The federation said it needed to ensure space was created for workers as the union had "polarising leadership" who had pushed for the disaffiliation for "narrow political reasons". "These FAWU leaders will go down in history as the ones who split the union," Ntshalintshali said. From: <http://www.iol.co.za/business/news/fawu-and-cosatu-set-for-tug-of-war-over- supporters-2061821> http://www.iol.co.za/business/news/FAWU-and-COSATU-set-for-tug-of-war-over-s upporters-2061821 __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 14033 (20160829) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com -- -- 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. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/yclsa-eom-forum/003c01d201c2%24b4eb2c00%241ec18400%24%40com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
