Although the unions had issues with credentials at the congress on Monday, they were out-voted by a landslide late on Monday.
The unions say the meeting is being hijacked
with the intention of replacing unity and cohesion with intolerance and
closing down democratic space.
“Those who declared in May 2013 that they
wanted to dismantle the federation in order to start it afresh have
today the upper hand and have succeeded,” a statement from the unions
says.
“This federation is unlikely to ever be the
same again. It has been fatally wounded by an agenda that has nothing to
do with the interests of workers or the working class.”
The unions said Cosatu was even more polarised than it was before this week’s congress and remained locked in paralysis.
Further, court
judgments against the organisation had been deliberately misinterpreted
to maintain a fiction that the congress’s agenda not be amended, despite
constitutional provisions for this.
“We have also witnessed a shameful disregard of
the laws of natural justice. The shocking abuse of power inherent in
the release of a supposedly key congress document one working day before
the Special National Congress, which repeats all of the unproven
accusations against the (expelled Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima
Vavi) and Numsa, has undoubtedly rendered unfair any appeal process now
and in the future,” they said.
“Basically we have seen Cosatu abusing the
rights of not only (Vavi), but also one who has a contractual
relationship with the federation. Contradicting all the basic norms of
fairness at work that trade unions seek to establish, Cosatu has denied
its own employee the right to a fair disciplinary process, and has
chosen instead to use the so-called unity and cohesion discussion
document to conduct a kangaroo court in his absence.”
The unions said there would now be an
unavoidable and “desirable” split in the federation, which had
apparently been predicted by former-Nehawu general secretary, Fikile
Majola, two years ago.
“(Majola) told the CEC held 27 – 29 May 2013
that a faction had made a calculation that a split of the federation is
unavoidable and that the Cosatu General Secretary and Numsa, must be
‘surgically removed from the Federation’,” they said.
“This stunned many of us who believe that workers unity is sacrosanct.”
Since Majola’s
statement was made, the leadership faction within the central executive
committee (CEC) has followed this approach with “military precision”.
“Despite external interventions to help resolve
the crisis in Cosatu, including that led by Petrus Mashishi and Charles
Nupen, but also the ANC Task Team, nothing was allowed to succeed and
reports and recommendations were simply ignored,” the unions said.
“Regrettably the ANC has now taken sides, and
has tacitly accepted the dismissal of 365 000 members, and justified
their partisan approach by saying that Cosatu must manage its own
affairs.”
They said delegate caucuses prior to the
congress had pointed to a “worrying slide towards a form of
authoritarianism that contradicts democratic worker control” combined
with the failure to address chronic corruption, the illegal and
unconstitutional purges of those attempting to establish accountability,
and the sheer gangsterism.
“The crisis engulfing the working class is not
on the agenda of this Congress, and has in fact been effectively
sidelined. Unemployment has reached catastrophic levels of 36,1 percent,
including youth unemployment standing at a staggering 60 percent.
“Poverty now afflicts 54 percent of the population with 14 million of
our people going to bed every night without food. Low pay and increasing
wage income differentials have become a norm. None of these issues has
been prioritised by the Congress and have been barely referred to.
“What Cosatu has correctly labelled human
traffickers, meaning labour brokers, is also missing from the agenda.
The dysfunctional and two tiered education and health systems have not
even been discussed. There are countless other worker priorities
including the spread of a cancerous corruption that has spread right
into so many of our institutions, and in many Cosatu unions.”
The unions now plan to hold a “broader, more representative workers’ summit” to discuss the future of trade unionism.
“We will convene special national executive
committee meetings of our unions as soon as possible after this failed
congress. We shall not participate in the CEC while the intransigence of
the current leadership prevails,” they said.
“We urge all trade unionists, regardless of the
union or federation they belong to, to be part of a genuine democratic
revival, and to join with us in rebuilding a militant, independent,
worker controlled trade union movement that will meet the needs of the
working class. Nothing less will do.”
Labour Bureau
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