This month sees the 30th anniversary-of the founding of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), which was established on the 5th March, 1955. To mark the occasion, we publish excerpts from the New Year statement made by the General Secretary of SACTU, Comrade John Nkadimeng.
Comrades, militants and activists of the democratic trade union movement, on behalf of the National Executive Committee of the South African Congress of Trade Unions, SACTU, its entire membership and its supporters, at home and abroad, we extend our revolutionary greetings to you.
We greet all the working people of our country, in the towns and in the countryside, -in the spirit of working class fraternity as fellow fighters in the front line trenches in the struggle against the capitalist exploiters and the racist state that serves them.
The year 1985 comes at a time when the balance of forces in our country is visibly shifting in favour of the forces of liberation. This is partly as a result of the struggles that we have waged over the last 30 years in pursuit of the objectives we set ourselves when SACTU was founded. During this period, particularly the last five years, we have built a powerful trade union movement and drawn hundreds of thousands of workers into active struggle.
As we enter the new year, 1985, the 30th anniversary of the founding of SACTU,
the workers and all working people in our country can look back with pride at a
record of hard battles and successes during 1984. The wealth
of experience we have gained over the past year paves the way for the battles to
be waged during this and coming years...
Our country is today in the throes of a deep economic and political crisis. There is one single and overriding cause for all the ills our country suffers - the continued existence of the minority racist regime and the exploitative system it upholds.
The apartheid regime and the capitalist exploiters are deliberately shifting the burden of this economic crisis on to the shoulders of the working people.
While all the major companies continue to reap fabulous profits, the standard of living of the working people continues to fall as a result of increased food prices, rents, bus fares, general sales tax on all goods we buy. Adding insult to injury, the proceeds of this tax go towards the maintenance and strengthening of the oppressive state machinery created to hold us down.
Our Will to Resist
The apartheid regime is responding to the political crisis by intensifying its campaign of repression. During 1984 it murdered more than 200 patriots, including children, arrested over a thousand trade unionists, other activists and leaders of the democratic movement, some of whom have now been charged with high treason.
The enemy has gone further,. to use its military might as an instrument of terror against the struggling masses. Massive state violence against the people has become a daily occurrence.
During 1984, South Africa experienced a record number of strikes. Many of these were in the engineering and mining industries. We saw for the first time, since 1946, the Black miners take well-planned industrial action which shook the mining companies. The eagerness of the mine owners to reach a settlement before actual strike action tells us a lot about the strategic importance of the mines to the South African economy as a whole. It is absolutely important that we build on these gains we have made in the mining industry. The organised strength of the Black miners must be increased, and co-ordination amongst the mine workers' unions improved.
A fine example has already been set by the Black Allied Mining and Construction Workers' Union, which mobilised its members to support the National Union of Mine Workers - and thus applied in action the internationally recognised working class slogan: An injury to one is an injury to all!
We should use this experience to work towards the formation of one union in the
mining industry...
In spite of the difficulties we have faced, the number of workers who joined the trade unions has grown. Between 1980 and 1983, Black trade union membership increased from 220, 000 to 670, 000. In other words, it increased by over 200%. By 1984, the number of Black unionised workers had grown to 1,545, 824, that is, more than double the figure for 1983...
Unity in the Trade Union Movement
To mark the 30th anniversary of SACTU in a fitting manner requires that all of us, in our various unions and other organisations, join hands to improve co-ordination and cooperation as well as to build the unity of the democratic trade union movement. The task of creating a single national federation still seems beset with a number of problems. It is our considered view that unity will best be served if all the unions, even those presently outside the unity talks, are brought in. To form a federation which does not include all the democratic unions would be harmful and only serve to weaken the whole trade union movement. Unity will not be achieved as long as any unions are excluded or relegated to the role of observers.
Closely linked with the growth and the very survival of the organised workers' movement is the whole question of retrenchments and unemployment. The growing army of the unemployed could easily be used to undermine the trade union movement and its achievements, unless the unemployed are themselves organised. A campaign to demand the right to work and for adequate unemployment benefits has come to the top of today's agenda. The unemployed, in the industrial centres as well as in the bantustans, must be organised, not as an act of charity, but in the vital class interest of all workers. In this regard, we salute the unemployed workers in the QwaQwa bantustan, who organised themselves and engaged in struggle demanding jobs...
Centenary of May Day
In 1986, we shall be observing the Centenary of May Day. On May Day, 1984, we put forward the demand that this day must be a paid public holiday. We must aim to ensure that through our united action this demand is met as from 1986. Therefore, our activities in 1985 must aim to build up the forces which will compel the apartheid regime to bow down to our wishes...
We salute and pay tribute to the many gallant working class fighters who have made the supreme sacrifice during the course of the struggle. We recall the names of stalwarts of SACTU like Looksmart Solwandle Ngudle, Lawrence Ndzanga, Elijah Loza and Alpheus Madiba, all of whom died in the hands of the racist regime's torturers.
We dip our banners in memory of William Khanyile, who was murdered by the racists at Matola in January 1981. We remember Zola Nqini, Phakamile Mpongoshe, Gene Gugushe and many others who were butchered in Maseru in December 1982. We also remember, on this day, the death in detention of trade unionists like Dr Neil Aggett, and the mysterious death of Joe Mavi, the President of the Municipal and General Workers' Union of South Africa.
We extend our greetings to the leaders of the democratic trade unions, who, in defiance of police harassment, detention and imprisonment, are standing firm and are refusing to waver in the struggle for freedom and social justice.
We pledge our solidarity with all political prisoners, including trade unionists, on Robben Island and the other prisons of apartheid, and swear that we shall not rest until we have thrown open the doors of the dungeons in which they are imprisoned.
During this 30th Anniversary of SACTU, let us all move forward, in rising waves of intensity of struggle, to the Centenary of May Day.
Let us mobilise for massive campaign against the continued impoverishment of the masses of the people!
Let us demand food and not guns!
AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!