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Union-Party Alliances in the Era of Market Regulation: The Case of South Africa

2005; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03057070500370464

1465-3893

Sakhela Buhlungu,

Labor Movements and Unions

Abstract Analyses of the alliance between the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) have been preoccupied with debating the desirability or otherwise of this alliance. Even those that have acknowledged stresses in the alliance because of neo-liberal policies of the ANC government have failed to account for the general fragility of union-party alliances in the contemporary world. This article begins by acknowledging that union-party relations are affected by political transitions such as those in developing countries, including South Africa's more recent one. The article then takes the debate further by providing a framework for understanding the nature of these alliances in a liberalising world. It argues that a critical shortcoming of existing analyses is their failure to locate union-party alliances in the context of a transition from ‘social regulation’ to ‘market regulation’. The article uses the alliance between COSATU and the ANC to illustrate this argument. For COSATU, the shift from social regulation to market regulation presents itself as a ‘paradox of victory’. This means that while the federation was a central actor in the struggle for political democracy, it is now increasingly finding itself relegated to a marginal role. The article concludes by arguing that the advent of market regulation results in the ‘withering away’ of existing union-party alliances. Notes 1 E. Webster, ‘The Rise of Social Movement Unionism: The Two Faces of the Black Trade Union Movement in South Africa’, in E. Webster, L. Alfred, L. Bethlehem, A. Joffe and T. Selikow (eds), Work and Industrialisation in South Africa: An Introductory Reader (Johannesburg, Ravan Press, 1994), p. 268. 2 Although the alliance is a tripartite one, including the SACP, this article only focuses on the principal allies, namely the ANC and COSATU. The SACP remains the least significant of the three, and tends to take its cue from the union federation on certain issues. However, there have been times when the SACP acted as a moderating influence on COSATU and played the role of mediator to avoid a public showdown between the ruling party and the union federation. 3 See S. Buhlungu, ‘Flogging a Dying Horse’, South African Labour Bulletin, 21, 1 (1997); E. Webster, ‘The Alliance under Stress: Governing in a Globalizing World’, Democratization, 8, 1 (2001); A. Habib, and R. Taylor, ‘Political Alliances and Parliamentary Opposition in Post-Apartheid South Africa’, in R. Southall (ed.), Opposition and Democracy in South Africa (London, Frank Cass, 2001); R. Suttner, ‘The Tripartite Alliance under Strain’, The Innes Labour Brief, 13, 3 (2001). 4 Habib and Taylor, ‘Political Alliances and Parliamentary Opposition in Post-Apartheid South Africa’, p. 219. 5 F. Cooper, Decolonization and African Society: The Labor Question in French and British Africa (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 5. 6 R. Cohen, Labour and Politics in Nigeria, 1945–71 (London, Heinemann, 1974). 7 G. Standing, ‘Globalization, Labour Flexibility and Insecurity: The Era of Market Regulation’, European Journal of Industrial Relations, 3, 1 (1997). 8 M.V. Murillo, Labor Unions, Partisan Coalitions and Market Reforms in Latin America (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 1–2. 9 Standing, ‘Globalization, Labour Flexibility and Insecurity’. 10 A. Giddens, The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy (Cambridge, Polity Press, 1998), p. 9. 11 E. Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914–1991 (London, Abacus, 1995), pp. 257–8. 12 A. Przeworski, Sustainable Democracy (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 53. 13 M. Goldfield, The Decline of Organized Labor in the United States (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1987). 14 Cooper, Decolonization and African Society, pp. 468–9. 15 Giddens, The Third Way. 16 Przeworski, Sustainable Democracy, p. 54. 17 R. Lambert and E. Webster, ‘The Re-emergence of Political Unionism in Contemporary South Africa’, in W. Cobbet and R. Cohen (eds), Popular Struggles in South Africa (London, James Currey, 1988). 18 See, for example, J. Foster, ‘The Workers’ Struggle – Where Does FOSATU Stand?', South African Labour Bulletin, 7, 8 (1982). 19 J. Naidoo, ‘The Significance of COSATU’, South African Labour Bulletin, 11, 5 (1986), p. 34. 20 COSATU, ‘A Draft Programme for the Alliance’ (November 1996). 21 E. Webster, ‘Trade Unions, Economic Reform and the Consolidation of Democracy’, in S. Friedman and R. de Villiers (eds), Comparing Brazil and South Africa: Two Transitional States in Political and Economic Perspective, Proceedings of a Conference (Johannesburg, CPS, FGD and Idesp, 1996), p. 146. 22 See Lambert and Webster, ‘The Re-emergence of Political Unionism in Contemporary South Africa’; J. Baskin, Striking Back: A History of COSATU (Johannesburg, Ravan, 1991); Webster, ‘Trade Unions, Economic Reform and the Consolidation of Democracy’; P. Eidelberg, ‘The Tripartite Alliance on the Eve of a New Millennium: The Congress of South African Trade Unions, the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party’, (paper presented to a seminar at the Institute for Advanced Social Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 3 March 1997). 23 I. Macun and A. Frost, ‘Living Like There's No Tomorrow: Trade Union Growth in South Africa, 1979–1991’, Social Dynamics, 20, 2 (1994). 24 S. Buhlungu, ‘COSATU and the Elections’, South African Labour Bulletin, 18, 2 (1994). 25 See, for example, A. Adelzadeh, ‘Growth and Development: Labour and Business Perspectives on Economic Development’, in J. Baskin (ed.), Against the Current: Labour and Economic Policy in South Africa (Johannesburg, Ravan, 1996); and H. Marais, South Africa, Limits to Change: The Political Economy of Transformation (London/New York, Zed and Cape Town, University of Cape Town Press, 1998). 26 H. Adam, Van Zyl Slabbert and K. Moodley, Comrades in Business: Post-Liberation Politics in South Africa (Cape Town, Tafelberg, 1997), p. 140. 27 Suttner, ‘The Tripartite Alliance under Strain’. 28 COSATU, ‘A Draft Programme for the Alliance’. 29 ‘Interview with President Mandela’, Sunday Times, 25 May 1997. 30 COSATU, COSATU 6th National Congress, Resolution on Political Strategy and Vision (Tripartite Alliance) (1997). 31 For a more extensive discussion of the challenges currently facing South African unions, see S. Buhlungu, ‘The Paradox of Victory: South Africa's Union Movement in Crisis’, New Labor Forum, 8 (2001). 32 African National Congress, National Executive Committee, ‘Briefing Notes on the Alliance’ (October 2001). 33 S. Buhlungu, ‘Generational Transition in Union Employment: The Organisational Implications of Staff Turnover in COSATU’, Transformation, 39 (1999); K. von Holdt, Transition From Below: Forging Trade Unionism and Workplace Change in South Africa (Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press, 2003). 34 S. Buhlungu, ‘Organisational Modernisation and New Cleavages Among Full-Time Union Officials in South Africa’, Labour, Capital and Society, 36, 1 (2003). 35 An exception, perhaps, is the emerging coalition between COSATU and the Treatment Action Committee around HIV-AIDS and the campaign to force the government to provide anti-retroviral drugs to pregnant mothers. 36 South African Government (Government Communication and Information System), ‘ “Privatization” Strike – The Facts’, Advertisement in The Sunday Independent, 26 August 2001. 37 ‘Vavi Slams “Paranoid, Suspicious” Politicians’, Sunday Times, 6 February 2005. 38 S. Buhlungu, (ed.), ‘Trade Unions and Democracy: COSATU Workers' Political Attitudes in South Africa’ (Cape Town, HSRC Press, forthcoming 2006). 39 Suttner, ‘The Tripartite Alliance under Strain’, p. 28. 40 S. Shilowa, ‘The Alliance Remains Relevant’, South African Labour Bulletin, 21, 2 (1997), p. 72. 41 J.S. Valenzuela, ‘Labor Movements in Transitions to Democracy: A Framework for Analysis’, Comparative Politics, 21, 41 (1989). 42 Murillo, Labor Unions, Partisan Coalitions and Market Reforms in Latin America. 43 See L. Rakner, Political and Economic Liberalisation in Zambia, 1991–2001 (Stockholm, Nordic Africa Institute, 2003). 44 See F. Schiphorst, ‘Strengths and Weaknesses: The Rise of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the Development of Labour Relations’ (Ph.D. Thesis, University of Leiden, 2001). 45 A.V. Jose, ‘Organized Labour in the 21st Century – Some Lessons for Developing Countries’, in A.V. Jose (ed.), Organized Labour in the 21st Century (Geneva, ILO [International Institute for Labour Studies], 2002). 46 See for example, J. Theron, ‘Employment is not What it Used to Be: The Nature and Impact of Work Restructuring in South Africa’, in E. Webster and K. von Holdt (eds), Beyond the Apartheid Workplace: Studies in Transition (Pietermaritzburg, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005); and B. Kenny, ‘“We are Nursing these Jobs”: The Impact of Labour Market Flexibility on East Rand Retail Sector Workers’, in N. Newman, J. Pape and H. Jansen (eds), Is There an Alternative? South African Workers Confronting Globalisation (Cape Town, ILRIG, 2001). 47 See for example, J. Theron, ‘Employment is not What it Used to Be: The Nature and Impact of Work Restructuring in South Africa’, in E. Webster and K. von Holdt (eds), Beyond the Apartheid Workplace: Studies in Transition (Pietermaritzburg, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005); and B. Kenny, ‘“We are Nursing these Jobs”: The Impact of Labour Market Flexibility on East Rand Retail Sector Workers”, in N. Newman, J. Pape and H. Jansen (eds), Is There an Alternative? South African Workers Confronting Globalisation (Cape Town: ILRIG, 2001), p. 15. 48 See S. Buhlungu, ‘The Anti-Privatisation Forum: A Profile of a Post-Apartheid Social Movement’, (research report prepared for the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, October 2004). 49 African National Congress (ANC), National Executive Committee, ‘Briefing Notes on the Alliance’ (October 2001). 50 The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in Zambia is a party that was formed by the trade union federation and other forces to contest political power in 1991. It succeeded in wresting power from then president Kaunda's ruling party. The MDC was established at the initiative of the union federation and other forces in Zimbabwe. Although it has not succeeded in replacing President Mugabe and his ruling party, it has increased its share of the vote to nearly 50 per cent. 51 Buhlungu, (ed.), ‘Trade Unions and Democracy’ (forthcoming 2006). 52 R. Southall, ‘Conclusion: Emergent Perspectives on Opposition in South Africa’, in Southall (ed.), Opposition and Democracy in South Africa, p. 281. 53 J. Cronin, ‘Interview with Jeremy Cronin’, Helena Sheehan (2002), http://www.comms.dcu.ie/sheehanh/za/cronin02.htm (retrieved on 29/07/2002).