A merger is up for discussion between the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (Amcu), a move that would have far-reaching consequences.
According to Numsa deputy secretary-general Karl Cloete, the Amcu leadership approached Numsa a few days after the latter was expelled from the Congress of SA Trade Unions last month, with a view “to talking”.
The central committee discussed the matter and mandated secretary-general Irvin Jim to explore it further.
“So yes, our general secretary will be talking to the Amcu president in due course,” Cloete told the Financial Mail.
This will most likely be before the year is out. “As Numsa we would be talking to Amcu without fear or favour, as we are no longer guided by any protocols, as we are non-affiliated.”
The mooted merger comes as seven unions affiliated to Cosatu are threatening to leave the federation in solidarity with Numsa. Should they all join forces into one new federation, they would stand as more than one million militant, and essentially anti-ANC, blue-collar workers. (Until not so long ago, Cosatu had 2.2-million members spread across its 19 affiliates.)
Numsa is the country’s largest union, with more than 360000 members, and Amcu is arguably its most radical, so a union of those two forces alone would be enough to divide the terrain dominated until now by Cosatu.
It would also put an end to all talk of Numsa ever returning to the union federation, which it co-founded in 1985 and from which it was expelled in a surprise move in the early hours of November 8.
The tough-talking Numsa has been saying it will challenge its dismissal and find its way back into the fold.
“That is about us recapturing the Cosatu we helped found in the 1980s,” says Cloete blithely. “About taking us back to the spirit of a pro-worker, independent federation and not one that is headed by a man who belongs to a political faction and thinks only in terms of factions,” he says in a not-so-veiled reference to Sdumo Dlamini, Cosatu’s current president.
“But if I am realistic, I cannot see the prospect of reclaiming Cosatu in the present climate and with the current leadership,” he adds.
Certainly, an alliance with Amcu would be an obstacle to that happening, considering it was started in 1998 by a handful of trade unionists who broke away from the National Union of Mineworkers and who have traded ever since on a non-partisan platform.
Cosatu, on the other hand, is a partner in the tripartite alliance that has governed the country for more than 20 years.
But the possible merger between the two unions was mooted long before Numsa’s departure from Cosatu and it is understood that informal approaches began in the first few months of this year, apparently instigated by Numsa and not Amcu. Those who were privy to the move saw it as a Numsa pipe-dream of which Amcu would never approve, simply because of the politics.
When the Financial Mail first approached Amcu about the matter in October, its national treasurer, Jimmy Gama, gave the following cryptic response: “It would not be for us as leaders to decide.
“Only our members could take a decision like that when we go to conference in 2017.”
Questioned about the matter last week, Gama refused to be drawn and Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa could not be reached. His phone sounded an overseas dialling tone.
Numsa’s dismissal appears to have brought the decision date of 2017 forward drastically. Both unions could benefit from an alignment.
For the past three years, Jim’s union has been on a discreet recruitment drive and has increased its membership by 25% from 288173 in early 2012 to the current 360000, at a time when the economy has been shedding jobs and the union has been diversifying away from the metal workforce into other sectors.
In the past three months alone it has pulled in more than 10000 new members.
Not a single worker has defected from Numsa since its expulsion. According to Cloete, for a member to put a halt to paying his or her dues, a resignation form would first have to be processed and that has not yet happened.
Amcu is cagey about disclosing its membership and guesses range anywhere from 100000 to 200000 at a stretch, though it is unlikely to be any more than that. Evidently it is strong in sectors in which Numsa is trying to grow its presence, which is part of the attraction.
For Amcu, a merger with Numsa would provide it with a stronger voice at negotiating tables.
But what about Numsa’s plans to start a so-called United Front, which is expected to contest the 2016 local government elections? Would that not deter Amcu from a possible alignment?
“We cannot speak for Amcu, just as we cannot speak for a united front that has yet to take shape,” says Cloete. “All I can tell you is that Numsa will remain as a union. Jim and I were elected into our positions until September 2016 and we plan on holding on to them until then.
“And I don’t think any of us would make the mistakes of the ANC and Cosatu, which nurtured their alliance at the expense of the worker. Look at them now. That’s not where we want to go.”
Fiona Forde is a political analyst. This article is from the Financial Mail
Possible Amcu-Numsa merger is on the cards
According to Numsa deputy secretary-general Karl Cloete, the Amcu leadership approached Numsa a few days after the latter was expelled from the Congress of SA Trade Unions last month, with a view “to talking”.
The central committee discussed the matter and mandated secretary-general Irvin Jim to explore it further.
“So yes, our general secretary will be talking to the Amcu president in due course,” Cloete told the Financial Mail.
This will most likely be before the year is out. “As Numsa we would be talking to Amcu without fear or favour, as we are no longer guided by any protocols, as we are non-affiliated.”
The mooted merger comes as seven unions affiliated to Cosatu are threatening to leave the federation in solidarity with Numsa. Should they all join forces into one new federation, they would stand as more than one million militant, and essentially anti-ANC, blue-collar workers. (Until not so long ago, Cosatu had 2.2-million members spread across its 19 affiliates.)
Numsa is the country’s largest union, with more than 360000 members, and Amcu is arguably its most radical, so a union of those two forces alone would be enough to divide the terrain dominated until now by Cosatu.
It would also put an end to all talk of Numsa ever returning to the union federation, which it co-founded in 1985 and from which it was expelled in a surprise move in the early hours of November 8.
The tough-talking Numsa has been saying it will challenge its dismissal and find its way back into the fold.
“That is about us recapturing the Cosatu we helped found in the 1980s,” says Cloete blithely. “About taking us back to the spirit of a pro-worker, independent federation and not one that is headed by a man who belongs to a political faction and thinks only in terms of factions,” he says in a not-so-veiled reference to Sdumo Dlamini, Cosatu’s current president.
“But if I am realistic, I cannot see the prospect of reclaiming Cosatu in the present climate and with the current leadership,” he adds.
Certainly, an alliance with Amcu would be an obstacle to that happening, considering it was started in 1998 by a handful of trade unionists who broke away from the National Union of Mineworkers and who have traded ever since on a non-partisan platform.
Cosatu, on the other hand, is a partner in the tripartite alliance that has governed the country for more than 20 years.
But the possible merger between the two unions was mooted long before Numsa’s departure from Cosatu and it is understood that informal approaches began in the first few months of this year, apparently instigated by Numsa and not Amcu. Those who were privy to the move saw it as a Numsa pipe-dream of which Amcu would never approve, simply because of the politics.
When the Financial Mail first approached Amcu about the matter in October, its national treasurer, Jimmy Gama, gave the following cryptic response: “It would not be for us as leaders to decide.
“Only our members could take a decision like that when we go to conference in 2017.”
Questioned about the matter last week, Gama refused to be drawn and Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa could not be reached. His phone sounded an overseas dialling tone.
Numsa’s dismissal appears to have brought the decision date of 2017 forward drastically. Both unions could benefit from an alignment.
For the past three years, Jim’s union has been on a discreet recruitment drive and has increased its membership by 25% from 288173 in early 2012 to the current 360000, at a time when the economy has been shedding jobs and the union has been diversifying away from the metal workforce into other sectors.
In the past three months alone it has pulled in more than 10000 new members.
Not a single worker has defected from Numsa since its expulsion. According to Cloete, for a member to put a halt to paying his or her dues, a resignation form would first have to be processed and that has not yet happened.
Amcu is cagey about disclosing its membership and guesses range anywhere from 100000 to 200000 at a stretch, though it is unlikely to be any more than that. Evidently it is strong in sectors in which Numsa is trying to grow its presence, which is part of the attraction.
For Amcu, a merger with Numsa would provide it with a stronger voice at negotiating tables.
But what about Numsa’s plans to start a so-called United Front, which is expected to contest the 2016 local government elections? Would that not deter Amcu from a possible alignment?
“We cannot speak for Amcu, just as we cannot speak for a united front that has yet to take shape,” says Cloete. “All I can tell you is that Numsa will remain as a union. Jim and I were elected into our positions until September 2016 and we plan on holding on to them until then.
“And I don’t think any of us would make the mistakes of the ANC and Cosatu, which nurtured their alliance at the expense of the worker. Look at them now. That’s not where we want to go.”
Fiona Forde is a political analyst. This article is from the Financial Mail
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