Numsa’s plan to poach members raises ire
Union plan to organise across sectors will increase rivalry, writes Natasha Marrian
FRESH tensions between the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu’s) largest affiliates are brewing, with the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) set to consider organising across sectors, in effect competing with fellow unions for membership.
The issue will be on the agenda at the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) special national congress in two months’ time.
The NUM expressed concern last Friday that poaching by Numsa would intensify should the latter receive a mandate from its members at its special national congress in December.
The NUM’s membership has already declined dramatically in the wake of the Marikana massacre, when it lost members to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union on the platinum belt.
Should Numsa resolve to organise workers across all sectors, union rivalry would intensify in an already turbulent labour environment.
The NUM and Numsa have been at loggerheads for some time now over Numsa’s “poaching” of NUM members at Eskom. The two unions are also on opposite sides of the factional battle which now has Cosatu in a vice grip.
The battle between the NUM and Numsa intensified last year as Cosatu affiliates mulled replacing suspended Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi at the federation’s national congress.
Numsa’s poaching of NUM members also forms part of Cosatu’s internal facilitated process, aimed at ironing out the inter- nal ructions plaguing the federation. The move would spell a departure from Cosatu’s founding principle of “one union, one industry”.
NUM general secretary Frans Baleni on Friday expressed concern that the so-called poaching of members by Numsa had not abated despite the complaints that the NUM had brought to the federation. “What we are not happy about is the poaching, which has not come to an end, it has gone through new areas, like construction and even mining,” he said.
The discussions likely to unfold at Numsa’s upcoming special congress has left the NUM, and other Cosatu affiliates, uneasy.
“Numsa is going to have a special congress. In that special congress they are challenging the founding principle of one union, one industry. Secondly, they have identified three unions … where they say that they want to be the spear and the shield of struggling workers. What does that mean?” Mr Baleni said, implying that Numsa is targeting the unions.
The three unions are the NUM, chemical union Ceppwawu and transport union Satawu. Satawu and Ceppwawu had also complained about losing members to Numsa. All three unions have suffered from organisational weaknesses over the years.
Satawu split last year after its president Ephraim Mphahlele fell out with general secretary Zenzo Mahlangu over allegations of corruption. Mr Mahlangu is facing fraud charges at the Commercial Crimes Court over the alleged misuse of union funds.
Ceppwawu is in a similar state of disarray, with perceptions of cor- ruption against its top brass rife among members, and complaints by insiders that the union’s national executive committee had not met in over a year.
“Does it mean that they (Numsa) are going to be saying, the hell with Cosatu’s founding principles, we are going to let loose, which will be unfortunate. That’s of great concern to us, because they are going to be working against the unity of Cosatu,” Mr Baleni said.
Numsa deputy general secretary Karl Cloete says the union should be afforded the space to discuss any issues “under the sun” at its special congress. He says no decision had yet been taken, and the union’s structures are set to begin discussions in preparation for the congress at the weekend.
It is understood that Cosatu has issued a detailed plan for affiliates to aid the NUM in regaining its membership in North West. But according to an insider, the federation had “vilified” Numsa.
Numsa issued a detailed response to the allegations that it is poaching members to the facilitators. In its response, it set the tone for the discussion likely to unfold at its special national congress, arguing firstly, that SA’s constitution provides for freedom of association and that workers were “not rhinos” and could not be poached, they made their choices freely.
Numsa says it does not encourage cross-sector recruitment, but points out examples where workers from Ceppwawu, for instance, insist on joining their union because they have not received any service from their own union.