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| The weekly newsletter for COSATU members and the public | 22 June 2001 |
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Online poll...Give us your view of the Coleman Andrews / SAA saga? |
The union has came out lashing at Andrews, the man behind the storm, Saki Macozoma, and the media for "creating the myth of the miracle man".
Satawu said the salary of R232-million paid over a period of three years to Andrews is a slap in the face to the working class and the poor considering the damage he did to the SAA.
The union said Andrews’ employment resulted in SAA recording a loss of R244-million; laying off of more than 2000 workers through restructuring, mutual consent packages, retrenchments and outsourcing; dismissal of more than 25 black managers; and eruption of industrial disputes. "Andrew’s turnaround mandate was not in the interest of sound labour relations and transformation…but to crush unions and silence any voice of dissent," said Satawu adding that there was nothing magic about his employment.
It said the government and the Department of Public Enterprises are to blame for the privatisation and commercialisation Andrews brought in to the SAA.
"We call upon the Parliamentary Committee of Public Enterprises to institute an investigation into the Andrews’ employment contract and the basis on which it was concluded.
This investigations should also show how appointments are made in conjunction with the serious lack of transformation programme at SAA," the union said.
COSATU recently last week called upon the government to make every effort to recover the money lost by the airline.
COSATU’s intentions for a two-day anti-privatisation strike gained momentum when it tabled a notice to the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on Tuesday this week.
In a statement issued immediately after the federation’s submission, Nedlac said COSATU has indicated a strike action culminating if the state does not halt its intentions that will lead to the privatisation of the state-owned parastatals.
The government’s intentions include the restructuring of state parastatals, enterprises and services carried out by the state and the state's opening up of industries.
The notice was tabled in terms of Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act, which allows registered trade unions or federations of trade unions to undertake protest action to promote and protect the social and economic interests of workers, if they follow certain procedures.
Apart from the two-day planned national strike, protest action would include marches, protest rallies and demonstrations.
The National Eskom Council of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) last weekend took a resolution to reject the electricity utility Eskom’s 9% salary increase. The Council demands 10% increase.
The NUM says the company’s offer is low compared to the one it offered last year, taking into consideration its improvement in financial growth.
"The NUM will be discussing with other unions to garner support
on this matter," said the union.
Negotiations between the union and the company are on.
Close to 500 members of the National Union of Mineworkers at Securicor-Gray Security Services, a UK company, went on a nation-wide strike on Wednesday against the company’s refusal to negotiate the workers’ Provident Fund.
The union demands that the security company contribute 15% to the provident fund.
NUM said the demand is fair and justified taking into consideration the dangerous situation its members work under. "It’s shameful that a company that prides itself of taking care of its employees contributes less towards their well being," the union said.
South African Communist Party (SACP), a COSATU ally, will in July celebrate its historic 80th Anniversary through a number of activities around the country.
The activities include, among others, launch of Anniversary, main national rally and SACP veterans dinner.
Top national leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Zwelinzima Vavi, Blade Nzimande, Jeremy Cronin and Charles Nqakula are expected to speak at the events.
The Anniversary would be held under the theme: "80 Years of Unbroken
Struggle for National
Liberation, People’s Power and Socialism".
SACP was launched on 31 July 1921 and is the oldest communist organisation in the continent.
More than 800 workers belonging to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) downed tools yesterday at the X-Strata company in Rustenburg against the company’s refusal to accede to its demands on severance packages and lay-offs.
The union earlier this week gave a 48-hour notice for a protected strike action to the chrome making company in terms of the Labour Relations Act no 66 of 1995, which require unions to submit their intentions on industrial actions.
The action follows NUMSA and the company’s failure to reach a consensus during last week’s meeting under the Engineering Bargaining Council over the company’s voluntary separation package and lay-offs of 200 workers.
The union says the company is, among others, paying laid-off workers
25% of their basic salary
including attendance bonus and housing subsidy.
The company has also suspended the workers’ medical aid membership. "NUMSA is extremely opposed to the retrenchments and lay-offs because they will add to the woes of the metal industry which is currently losing 2000 workers per month in the engineering sector," said the union’s spokesman, Dumisa Ntuli.
Ntuli said the company also failed to consider alternatives such as re-employment opportunities in the company, the skills of the affected workers and the need of skills in the company.
The union demands, among others, 75% of the workers’ basic salary, 100% provident fund contributions, continued medical aid membership, R30 000 ex-gratia payment to all retrenched workers, and that lay-offs be on a two weeks basis.
NUMSA has also threatened to organise other workers within the industry to join in on a solidarity strike and further vowed to continue with the strike until its demands are met.
COSATU Weekly believes that there are a variety of weekly developments that need to be discussed or raised to the attention of the readers and workers at large. If you have any compliments, queries or comments on the current issues, send us your brief letter to The Editor or fax it to (011) 339-7788. The newsletter can only publish a few letters a week.
Dear Sir,
Parastatals cleansing for workers’ benefit…Clearly we need to stop the continuing financial bleeding and mismanagement of our parastatals. To make our parastatals efficient and effective we need a concerted programme of skills development at all levels of the institutions, clear lines of accountability of all employees within the companies and to the govt. We need to be decisive and ruthless on corrupt employees at all levels of the companies. We also need better management of our relations with other similar companies around the world. This current tendency of making only workers to take the pain of restructuring (which some managers have consciously but mistakenly equated with privatisation and retrenchment of workers) is just not on. Micro plans in any parastatals have to be linked to the macro picture and developmental needs of our country which are mainly linked to closing the criminal legacy of neglect left by the apartheid system.
Mr Hope Mankwana Papo
Deputy Chief Whip (ANC)
Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Johannesburg, South Africa
By e-mail
Dear Sir,
Great service from COSATU and SAMWU
Congratulations - a great service indeed! But some credit to Anna Weekes from SAMWU. Anna first started this service - "Today’s News" - a few years ago and I am glad that COSATU has added a weekly update as well! Pictures? How about enclosing some pictures that go with the articles? Where is the story on the World Economic Forum protest in Durban? Or have I missed it? Once again - Congratulations SAMWU (Anna) and COSATU!
W. Aroun,
NUMSA KZN Education Department
By e-mail
By Sizwe Matshikiza
A flurry of resignations has hit Telkom’s top executive management rather heavily in recent months. Within a period of 6 months, 5 executive managers have left lucrative positions within the company.
The latest in these exits is the recent well-publicised resignation of Mr Moseneke, who, during his reign, captained the destruction of more than 15 000 jobs in Telkom within a space of just over a year.
Amongst other executives who have left the employ of Telkom are Executive Manager: Human Resources, Mr Victor Booysen, Ms T. Mokgosi, Executive Manager: Consumer markets and three other executive managers, two of whom come from the operations section of the company, which is headed by a member of the Strategic Equity Partners (SEPs), Mr Tom Berry and the other from the technology unit of the company whilst another, a white woman Executive, has been degraded from her position.
In addition to this, there are about 8 other foreign executive managers who have left the employ of Telkom. The Chief Operations Officer, Mr Tom Berry, is still destructively in charge of the whole operations of Telkom. Amongst operations headed by the American SEP, Mr Tom Berry, is the failed ‘I Care Flow Through’ project that has bled the company to the tune of more than R4 billion that has gone down the drain.
Failure of the SEP…
It is well known within Telkom that these SEP have failed on most of the terms of their contract, like transfer of Skills.
This is clearly reflected by the failure of Mr Bheki Langa to assume the higher position of Chief Operations Officer, a position currently occupied by Mr Tom Berry which Mr Langa has been deputising in for more than three years, almost since the arrival of the SEPs.
These SEPs have also failed the aspect of Attracting Foreign Direct Investment, another aspect of their contract.
The arrival of these SEPs has also failed to attract New Markets because they also compete with Telkom for the same new markets and their failure on introducing New Technology, another condition in their contract, is reflected in the I Care Flow Through project referred to above.
This flurry of resignations within the topmost echelons of the company’s management ranks, coupled with these drastic failures, not only puts the IPO process in doubt, a situation we would not only fervently welcome.
The failure of this IPO process is a scenario that we are preparing a series campaigns for, campaigns that will be finalised at our National Executive Committee meeting scheduled for the 14th To 15th June 2001.
Call For Public Disclosure…
This flurry of exists from the company lead us to suspect that there may be other diabolic reasons than the reason given for the sudden resignation of Mr Moseneke, the chairperson of the Board, who is reportedly leaving for an external career that remunerates far less than the positions he is leaving behind.
In the light of this flurry of exits, we believe that it is of urgency to obtain a public revelation of the shareholders agreement between the State and the SEPs who are running the company to the ground.
It is urgent to obtain this public disclosure of the contract before Telkom goes the route of the Post Office, that was almost run down before our call for the expulsion of its Strategic Management Partners are also foreigners who were bent on serving their individual and foreign interests at the expense of the socio-economic development of our country.
The three-month-old COSATU newsletter, COSATU WEEKLY, is going through a very huge change. Recently the newsletter was expanded to four pages, giving readers lots of information and also opening up spaces for sections such as letters and editorial. This week, for the first time ever, COSATU Weekly is hitting the federation’s website. Unlike its print edition, COSATU Weekly’s website version will be updated on daily basis throughout the week – with the final version on Fridays. The first online edition is now available at http://www.cosatu.org.za/news/weekly/20010622.htm
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