Dear Amandla! At a time when the crisis in Cosatu has reached breaking point and we can expect the emergence of a new trade union movement or federation, it is critically important for left trade unionists to draw some lessons from the crisis. Cosatu’s demise is not...
management
Putting the rights of cleaners at the centre of the struggle for transformation of universities: The case of UJ cleaners
The debate on transformation of universities tends to focus on changes in colour and gender, as well as access to these institutions. These are vitally important questions, because they seek to cure the ills of colonialism and apartheid in university education. On the...
Is Bureaucracy killing COSATU?
Bureaucracy is defined as management or administration marked by hierarchical authority among numerous offices and by fixed procedures. The abuse of power by officials is a very old phenomenon in the labour movement worldwide. Bureaucratisation is seen in this article...
The state of the struggle:Lonmin workers’ organising one year later
by Benjamin Fogel The Lonmin Worker's Council was birthed by last year's wildcat strike at the London Mining (Formerly London Rhodesian mining) mines in Marikana. The strike itself emanated from a long-running dispute between workers and management stemming both from...
The Amplats workers’ committee dilemma | by Benjamin Fogel
The Amplats workers' committee formed during last year's Marikana wildcat strike on the platinum belt. The Amplats strike did not begin because of the events at Lonmin; it arose out of a long-running dispute between workers, NUM and Amplats. Since June 2012 workers at...
After Marikana: what way forward?
The crisis of profitability in the platinum industry is a misleading phrase to describe the current situation. Platinum companies are still in fact making a profit. The issue is rather that they are no longer making the huge profits they did during the boom years of...
Houses for all! Now! | by Martin Legassick
Women and children have been forced to endure the Cape's lashing winter winds and rain sleeping in the open in the Marikana area of Philippi. This is the result of illegal actions by the Democratic-Alliance-sponsored Anti Land Invasion Unit (ALIU), demolishing their...
Occupy with Turkish features
By Joe Lombardo For Turkey, Occupy Gezi is an historically unprecedented event as each declaration of defiance issued from the protesters is met with an equally forceful response from the state and the police. These protesters are unique in that their participants are...
