ZWELINZIMA Vavi (pictured) paints a sorry picture of the state of trade unionism in SA today, (A paralysed Cosatu’s annual congress will be a farce, November 23), especially when compared with the major achievements made by unions for workers in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Where did it all go wrong?
The fault lies with the strategic choices made by trade union leaders, of which Mr Vavi was one. Instead of assessing the changing dynamics of the world economy and dramatic political change in SA to formulate a new strategy that would best benefit their members, they chose to indulge in outdated ideological rhetoric, to seek to impose their political will on the country, and to pursue personal power. Failure to recognise that escalating conflict through excessive power plays results in resistance strategies from the other side has also been a contributory factor.
If the union movement wants to contribute to a successful SA and at the same time achieve a better life for workers, it needs to carefully assess where it has gone wrong and formulate a new strategy. Modern trade union leaders can play a critical role by leaving behind their meaningless rhetoric and seeking to become legitimate, sophisticated and powerful partners in the economy to the benefit of workers, formulating strategies that will raise the standard of living of their members by recognising that it is in their interests for the enterprise to succeed, focusing specifically on wealth-accumulation and skills-development when they make their wage demands, and making clear to managers that excessive levels of reward that are unrelated to performance do serious damage to their legitimacy.
If union leaders continue to focus primarily on playing power games in the political arena and fail to recognise the ingredients of economic success as the prime route for benefiting their members, they will be irrelevant in another 10 or 20 years.
Sam van Coller
Via e-mail
Former Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. Picture: MOELETSI MABE/THE TIMES
ZWELINZIMA Vavi (pictured) paints a sorry picture of the state of trade unionism in SA today, (A paralysed Cosatu’s annual congress will be a farce, November 23), especially when compared with the major achievements made by unions for workers in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Where did it all go wrong?
The fault lies with the strategic choices made by trade union leaders, of which Mr Vavi was one. Instead of assessing the changing dynamics of the world economy and dramatic political change in SA to formulate a new strategy that would best benefit their members, they chose to indulge in outdated ideological rhetoric, to seek to impose their political will on the country, and to pursue personal power. Failure to recognise that escalating conflict through excessive power plays results in resistance strategies from the other side has also been a contributory factor.
If the union movement wants to contribute to a successful SA and at the same time achieve a better life for workers, it needs to carefully assess where it has gone wrong and formulate a new strategy. Modern trade union leaders can play a critical role by leaving behind their meaningless rhetoric and seeking to become legitimate, sophisticated and powerful partners in the economy to the benefit of workers, formulating strategies that will raise the standard of living of their members by recognising that it is in their interests for the enterprise to succeed, focusing specifically on wealth-accumulation and skills-development when they make their wage demands, and making clear to managers that excessive levels of reward that are unrelated to performance do serious damage to their legitimacy.
If union leaders continue to focus primarily on playing power games in the political arena and fail to recognise the ingredients of economic success as the prime route for benefiting their members, they will be irrelevant in another 10 or 20 years.
Sam van Coller
Via e-mail
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