No one ever got rich by striking
THE late Professor Carel Boshoff, founder of Orania, and National Union of Metalworkers Union (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim, despite being poles apart politically, shared the same sentiment about the role of the black working class.
In a lecture at the University of Stellenbosch in March 1990, Boshoff described the black labour force as the freedom force for black people, and Jim, in February 2010, emphasised at a Numsa conference that it was black workers who brought apartheid to an end. Continuing in this vein, the ANC states as a guiding principle of its National Democratic Revolution that black workers are now the driving force in fighting the socioeconomic legacy of apartheid.
Despite certain shortcomings, labour legislation and conditions of employment have improved appreciably since the advent of democracy. However, it has to be asked whether the use of the working class as the
Workers should be wary not to be used for a rent-a-crowd
motive force in the current economic freedom struggle is leading to the abuse of workers.
As a result of apartheid’s deficient education system, many workers are financially illiterate, so all that matters after a strike is the final amount that appears at the bottom of the pay slip. Most workers cannot calculate that the loss of two months’ income has a prolonged negative impact on their lives and that today’s strike can lead to tomorrow’s retrenchment. Sadly, many workers do know they might be striking themselves out of a job, but with high levels of intimidation they have to choose between their life and job security.
According to the Solidarity Research Institute, one month’s strike is equal to a loss of at least 8.3% of an employee’s annual income. So, to balance out the loss of the strike over a period of a year in gross terms, the difference between the em- ployer’s initial offer and the increase granted after the strike must be more than 8.3%. This rarely happens.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union’s current demand of a basic wage of R12 500 is equal to an increase of 150%, which means that should the R12 500 demand indeed be granted, striking workers could be on strike for 17 months and still make up the loss in basic income within the next year.
But, more realistically, should the current 9% offer, or even a 10% offer, finally be accepted by the striking workers, to make up the loss of income after six weeks of being on strike will take between 13 and 22 years. To date, the actual earnings loss for the striking workers is already R8 700 for entry-level workers and R15 504 for skilled workers.
Workers simply cannot afford to go on strike so much. At Lonmin alone, deductions for garnishee orders of employees have increased to R3.5-million a month as a consequence of the labour unrest and strikes during the past 18 months. As a result, pay offices are inundated by desperate workers hoping to obtain salary advances during this “no work, no pay” period.
Solidarity has sympathy with a worker who is struggling to provide for his family, but it is about time the working class begins to realise that you only go on strike when a matter of principle is at stake, for you can never make yourself rich by striking. During a prolonged negotiation, you are getting poorer because all benefits and allowances earned during the negotiation period are calculated on the “old” salary. Workers should be wary not to be used for a rent-a-crowd or abused for the sake of someone else’s ideology, self-enrichment or political interests. Rather than strike, demand better development and training so that you can double or triple your salary with new skills.
Du Plessis is general secretary of Solidarity