At NUMSA's Special Congress in December you voted to hold socio-economic strikes, the first of which is coming up on 19 March to oppose the Employment Tax Incentive. Could you describe what a socio-economic strike is and why NUMSA is opposed to the tax incentive? I...
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From Durban to Marikana: A new trajectory of the worker’s movement
In January 1973 dockworkers in Durban embarked on a wave of wildcat strikes against low wages, in total some 61000 workers took part in these strikes. The Durban moment not only smashed the industrial relations framework that had been established after black trade...
Numsa and the crisis in the Cosatu: What now?
by Benjamin Fogel During the 1980s the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) was the figurehead of the so-called 'workerist' tendency within the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and has always been on the left in Cosatu. Although Numsa...
Responses
Sakhela Buhlungu: It has taken more than 20 years for the dominant current of South Africa's labour movement to begin to emerge from stasis resulting from its embeddedness within the ruling political block led by the African National Congress. The massacre of...
South Africa: Snubbing quotas for women, snubs transformation
by Katherine Robinson Johannesburg, 7 February: While South Africa celebrates 20 years of democracy this year, the country will also be holding its national election, the first since 1994, without Madiba. If the last two months are anything to go by, we will surely...
A Brave New World: The Future of South African cricket
by Liam Brickhill Welcome to cricket's brave new world. The more egregious elements of the controversial Position Paper may have been watered down, but the spirit of the thing remains much the same. Under the guise of much-needed reform, India will rule, drawing in so...
The phony war in Ukraine
By Boris Kagarlitsky March 4, 2014 Why, do you suppose, war has not yet broken out between Russia and Ukraine? The answer is very simple: no one plans to go to war, and no one can. Kiev for practical purposes does not have an army, while the government that has...
Policing gangs by building working-class power
by Jeremy Vearey The mission of 'people's policing' in Mitchells plain, and the notion of community policing in general, seeks to correspond to community needs and priorities mandated by grassroots community structures such as street committees, neighbourhood watches...
Pete Seeger tribute
For Pete's sake We Shall Overcome Singing and Fighting by Andre Marais During a recent concert performance on the Cape Town leg of his SA, tour, Bruce Springsteen took time out to pay tribute to the legendary American folk-artist Pete Seeger, who passed away earlier...
