[Marxism] South Africa, unions and government

[Philip Ferguson <philip.ferguson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Norm D writes in response to Walter:
>I don't think the situation is fundamentally different to the situation

in Australia, where the majority of trade unions are affiliated to the 
thoroughly capitalist Australian Labor Party (or in Britain, NZ and many

European countries where capitalist ``social democratic'' parties are 
ruling parties or seek to be). I might even venture that it not is not 
in essence that different to the US unions' relationship with the US 
Democrats.

>The problems this produces I think are also similar (although to
varying 
degrees from country to country). The unions have compromised their 
class independence in the fight for their members' interests, in order 
to have ``influence'' over capitalist governments which either ignore or

abuse the very people the trade unions represent.



The arguments of those who favour the status quo is that the leaders of
the labour movement will be conduits into government for workers'
demands.

In reality what happens is that such "leaders" become conduits for the
demands of capitalism and capitalist governments into the labour
movement.

I remember how for years the Socialist Action League in NZ argued that
the unions should play a more active role in the Labour Party and that
any union radicalisation would be reflected within the party.

In fact, the exact opposite was the case.  The union leaderships
involved in the LP were transmission belts for ideas of capitalist
austerity going from the government into the unions.  And the
connections between the unions and the LP subordinated the union
movement to the capitalist Labour Party and thus to the capitalist
system overall.  In fact, those connections were a major factor in
hampering union action and militancy.

This remains the case today.  The very few unions that are still
affiliated to Labour are those least likely to take strike action, let
alone to challenge Labour's reactionary anti-union legislation.  

The best unions, notably Unite (which organises among low-paid workers
in fast food, hotels etc) and the NDU (which organises some industrial
workplaces, retail workers, distribution workers) are not affiliated to
Labour and tend to be more democratic and more militant.  The people who
have pathblazed with Unite tended to be hostile to Labour anyway (they
are ex-Alliance people), but in the NDU we have been able to play a
small but important role in ensuring the union doesn't give any money to
Labour any more and doesn't help Labour at election time.

Most unions here disaffiliated from Labour in the late 1980s and early
1990s and hardly any of them have re-affiliated.  I think the LP in NZ
has about three or four unions affiliated to it these days.  While this
includes the largest and richest union, the EPMU (the Engineers Union),
LP-affiliated unions are only a small minority of the organised labour
force (about 15 percent) and constitute only about three percent of the
overall workforce.

Phil

Phil

 







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