Johannesburg - Nehawu, one of Cosatu’s more powerful affiliates, has called on the federation to purge metalworkers’ union Numsa from all of its structures.
In a pamphlet released to its members this week, the union also demands that Numsa, which was expelled from Cosatu last month, be removed from other structures the federation is associated with.
“The union expects the national office-bearers of Cosatu to ensure implementation of the decisions… including removing Numsa from the entire structure of the federation, including various organisations and institutions where Cosatu participates, such as Nedlac (National Economic Development and Labour Council), with no exceptions,” the six-page document reads.
Although Numsa was given the boot, its members are still participating in local and provincial Cosatu structures. If Cosatu agrees to Nehawu’s demand, it would mean that leaders, including the federation’s Wes ern Cape provincial secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, would have to be shown the door.
But Cosatu is unlikely to take such a step while a political process is under way to unify the federation, which faces implosion over a number of issues. These include Numsa’s expulsion and whether it should be allowed to return, as well as whether Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi should be disciplined for nine charges he is facing, including maladministration and bringing the federation into disrepute.
Nehawu, which called for Numsa to be “surgically removed” from Cosatu earlier this year, has now appealed to the metalworkers not to follow their leaders, but remain in the federation.
It also said it was up to Numsa whether it would be reinstated in Cosatu.
“Numsa’s rank-and-file members belong nowhere else but to Cosatu, and the federation will never give up on them. In the light of the decision of the special CEC (central executive committee) of Cosatu, it is now up to Numsa to decide whether it is going to properly reflect on what has gone wrong, and conduct itself in a manner that would make it possible for the 12th congress to proudly readmit it,” the pamphlet reads.
Numsa was expelled on five charges, the most serious being that it was “poaching” members from other Cosatu unions. The union, whose numbers have surged, has denied the allegation, instead saying its numbers have risen because of better recruitment and servicing for its members.
The union resolved to extend its scope along value chains due to technological changes, changes in production and restructuring of sectors. But the Labour Department has still not given its go-ahead.
The pamphlet said the real “game-changer” in Cosatu was Numsa’s decision, made a year ago, to move from organising along industrial lines to organising along value chain linkages, and not the decision to expel the metalworkers.
The Star