Brave heart who championed the cause of the poor and oppressed
Trade unionist Ronald Bernickow remembered as a fair yet tough negotiator
ACTIVIST Ronald “Berni” Bernickow, who died last week, was given a few months to live when he was first diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer. That was 10 years ago. His cancer went into remission but returned three years ago. Last Monday, while he was recovering from his latest bout of chemotherapy treatment, he suffered a major heart attack and drew his final breath.
The poster that announces details of his memorial service and funeral ends off with the words, “A brave heart. A life of service”. These accurately capture the character of Berni and were traits he displayed passionately from the time he was drawn into trade unionism in the early 1980s.
He despised injustice and was deeply affected by the struggles of the poor and oppressed, and through his lifetime always put people first.
Born in 1960, Berni was the second-youngest of eight children born to Frederick, a shoe cobbler, and Eileen Bernickow, a machinist. The family initially lived in Walmer Estate before moving to Mitchells Plain. He attended Holy Cross Primary and Trafalgar High.
He had three brothers – Claude, Freddy and Ghakeem and four sisters – Lorraine, Cynthia, Esme and Edith.
He loved football, music and swimming and was a regular at the Trafalgar pool in his youth.
In his teenage years, he would go clubbing with a group of close friends. According to them, he was a master fussbol player and a pinball wizard.
I first encountered Berni in 1980, when I began working as a journalist at the Cape Argus, and he was one among a very interesting and colourful team of messengers employed there.
Suffering broader apartheid oppression in society as well as discrimination in a company that regarded itself as “liberal”, Bernie and others were drawn into trade union activities.
He was young and energetic. He worked hard in his job and as a volunteer for the trade union. His efforts and those of others led to the formation of the Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa). He became the union’s first full-time employee.
Despite his youth, he served as the senior negotiator and representative of workers with the South African Associated Newspapers (SAAN) and The Argus Group of companies regionally and nationally. He was largely responsible for organising newspaper vendors, newspaper workers and journalists, and was instrumental in negotiating improved working conditions and permanent employment status for vendors.
He was a fair but tough negotiator and once secured a 23% wage increase for workers in the media industry – an unprecedented agreement.
He built a wealth of experience in Mwasa. In 1983, he was drawn into the work of the United Democratic Front in Kensington, where he lived at the time. This opened up a new front of activism for the young Berni.
In the next two years, he devoted time and energy to political work and to the processes that led to the historic formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions in 1985.
It was a time of huge turbulence. Resistance to apartheid oppression spread to all corners of the country and PW Botha increasingly unleashed the violence of his security forces on the population, leading to thousands of deaths and detentions.
Berni continued to put his energies into the growing trade union movement as well as political campaigns, and he suffered arrest and harassment.
In 1986, he was employed by the Garment Workers Union, which later merged with other unions to form the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu). For five years, Bernie edited Clothesline, the union newsletter. By 1989, he served as both national media and information officer and regional organiser of Sactwu.
In the early 1990s, he rose to the position of regional secretary. He led negotiations in the National Bargaining Forum for the clothing industry and contributed hugely to policies on health care, especially HIV/Aids, and housing development.
He worked as the head of the CCMA for many years and put his energies into the work of the Commission for A National Minimum Wage. He continued his work despite his health faltering badly and his sister also falling ill.
He was recently appointed to Independent Newspapers Media Tribunal Appeals Panel and actively supported the work of the Cape Cultural Collective for the last two years.
Bernie had two sons – Remi, 25 and Rory, 19, from his marriage to Lorna Daniels and a daughter, Laila, 15, with long-time partner Zaidy Ibrahim. He also helped raise Stephan, Nicholas, Zainab and Aziz.
This week, at his memorial service, a note was read out that Berni left for his children.
It said: “Always champion the cause of the underdog and be willing to share with others what you have at all times. Also, look after your mothers for as long as you live.”
Those of us who knew Berni can say with certainty that he would have found all the lavish praise heaped on him rather humorous. He was as much aware of
BE WILLING TO SHARE WHAT YOU HAVE WITH OTHERS AT ALL TIMES. ALSO, LOOK AFTER YOUR MOTHERS FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE
his strengths as he was of his flaws. He worked hard but also partied hard, enjoying a good drink and smoking heavily for most of his adult life.
He loved food and used to enjoy koeksisters some Sunday mornings.
He wanted his friends and family to gather after his death and enjoy a “lekker pot of lamb or chicken curry with roti and rice”.
Berni’s sometimes irreverent sense of humour came through strongly when he ended his notes to his family and friends.
“The whisky and champagne will be in the garage. If I drank most or all of it before I died, please feel free to bring your own and celebrate my life rather than mourn my passing.”
Jaffer is a writer, musician and communication consultant. He and Ronald Bernickow were recently appointed to the Independent Newspaper Media Appeals Tribunal.
Bernickow’s funeral will be held at St George’s Cathedral tomorrow.