Johannesburg - Numsa (the National Union of Metalworkers of SA) and eight other Cosatu affiliates are going to court to compel the federation to comply with its constitution.
They want Cosatu to hold a special national congress, which would have the power to elect new leaders.
The nine unions have written to Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini calling for the special congress, but he and a central executive faction opposed to Numsa have been stalling the process for 14 months.
The unions agreed to delay going to court while the ANC tried to negotiate a peace deal in Cosatu.
As far as Numsa is concerned, with the ANC task team tabling a report at last week’s special central executive meeting and detractors trying barely hours later to have the metalworkers’ union expelled, that process is over.
Numsa says the report and peace process are a “farce”, and the gloves have come off.
The union’s general secretary, Irvin Jim, said in Johannesburg on Monday that Numsa would demand from Cosatu’s national office-bearers that no future central executive committee meeting and no other activity take place unless it was to further a special congress.
“Numsa will not, from now on, blindly escort itself into any slaughterhouse, which is what Cosatu central executive committee meetings have become for Numsa.
“We will stick strictly within the confines of the constitution of Cosatu and its resolutions and policies,” he said.
“Cosatu meetings going forward must attend to the calls for a special national congress (and) attend to the date and logistics for hosting of the special congress in or before the end of 2014.”
Numsa’s attitude appears to have been hardened by the ANC task team’s line on allegations that the union has been “poaching” members from other Cosatu affiliates. The task team called on Numsa to stop the “poaching” as a first step to restoring unity in Cosatu.
The union won a reprieve at last week’s meeting, but the matter of its expulsion is likely to come before another executive meeting next week.
It told the executive it would go to court to challenge any suspension or expulsion because proper processes had not been followed. Among its objections are that the matter was forced onto the agenda for the central executive committee’s meeting and it had not been given a chance yet to say why it should not be sanctioned.
Numsa says it cannot be kicked out of Cosatu for “poaching” as other unions have also recruited members outside their primary sectors.
Deputy general secretary Karl Cloete said on Monday that the union had records of every time an affiliate had extended its scope.
He hinted that Numsa would also be prepared to go to court over this matter.
“We will show how Numsa has been the scapegoat.”
The union needs to decide whether it will attend Cosatu’s special central executive committee meeting next week.
Jim believes, however, that Numsa faces expulsion no matter what it decides.
Group Labour Editor