{"id":1036,"date":"2019-12-10T11:49:30","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T09:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marxistworkersparty.org.za\/?page_id=1036"},"modified":"2020-04-23T11:45:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T09:45:54","slug":"cosatus-founding-congress","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?page_id=1036","title":{"rendered":"Cosatu’s Founding Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Durban, 30 November – 1 December 1985<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Originally appeared in Inqaba Ya Basebenzi No. 18-19 (February 1986)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cU-Cosatu-Sonyuka naya \u2019masingena enkululukweni…\u201d (Cosatu\n\u2013 we’ll rise with you as we advance towards freedom…)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These words, sung at the mass rally after the congress,\ntell more clearly than any description what the founding of Cosatu has meant to\nmillions of workers and black people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never has such a powerful working class organisation\nbeen seen in South Africa. 34 unions, with a paid-up membership of 449,679 were\nrepresented at the start. The target is a membership of one million by the end\nof 1986, consolidated into ten massive industrial unions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The capitalists\nhave soberly calculated the danger to themselves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country’s new super-federation of unions has taken up the cudgels in declaring it will play an intensive shop-floor and political role in the country. Leaders at the launch said members were demanding greater political involvement by unions as a result of mounting social and political pressures.<\/p>(Business Day<\/em>, 3 December)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the\nresolutions adopted at the congress add-up to the most advanced programme in\nthe history of the workers’ movement in South Africa (and will no doubt be\ndeveloped further in the struggle). The opening words of the constitution link\nindustrial and political struggle together:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We the trade union representatives here present firmly commit ourselves to a united democratic South Africa, free of oppression and economic exploitation. We believe that this can only be achieved under the leadership of a united working class.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These ideas are\na challenge to the regime and to its collaborators. Almost immediately after\nthe congress Cosatu faced a determined counter-attack. Buthelezi declared war\non the federation, and in Bophuthatswana the Gencor mining corporation sacked\n27,000 workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leadership\nand activists of Cosatu will be urgently discussing the ways of defending the\nunity now achieved and how to advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resolutions\non a number of key questions clearly explain the class policies that are necessary\nto go forward. We publish and comment on some of the resolutions in more detail\nbelow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millions are now\nlooking with new hope to Cosatu to carry forward the struggle for workers power\nand the socialist goals spell out by Comrade Barayi at the launching rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He received\nthunderous applause when he delivered a militant ultimatum to Botha “to\nget rid of the passes” in six months, and “to withdraw the troops from\nthe townships before the country burns”. The tremors of this statement are\nstill reverberating throughout the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition to\ncapitalism, because of the horrendous life it imposes on the overwhelming\nmajority, was forcefully repeated by the Cosatu CEC at their meeting in\nFebruary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a trade union\norganisation, Cosatu cannot carry the whole weight of the political struggle on\nits own shoulders. But it has an enormous potential political power in its own\nright and beyond this, can serve as a fortress from which can arise a mass ANC\non a socialist programme with the strength to overthrow the apartheid regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question now\nbefore activists is how Cosatu’s programme will be carried into practice to\nbuild the trade unions and the workers’ strength. A programme can remain a\npiece of paper, or it can be a real guideline for the life and activity of the\norganisation \u2013 giving voice to workers’ real aims and showing how these can be\nachieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What tasks does\nCosatu’s programme place before the movement? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A National Minimum Wage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My children are dying too<\/em><\/p>

Look at them<\/em><\/p>

how dull their eyes<\/em><\/p>

how slow their walk and the turning<\/em><\/p>

of their heads<\/em><\/p>

Nothing for them to eat<\/em><\/p>

Can you hear?<\/em><\/p>

They are crying.<\/em><\/p> Fosatu Worker News<\/em>, November 1985 <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These lines by\nNise Malange of TGWU, reflect the horrors of the cheap-labour system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Cheap\nlabour” sums-up the central purpose of apartheid. It is the key to the\ncapitalists’ profitability. The struggle to end cheap labour \u2013 to enforce a\nliving wage \u2013 attacks the roots of the whole system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resolution\non a National minimum living wage<\/strong>\nshows very clearly how to take up this struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers are looking\nto the CEC of Cosatu to set the specific minimum wage demand as soon as possible.\nAction around this demand can attract hundreds-of-thousands of unorganised\nworkers into the Cosatu unions \u2013 just as the ranks of Sactu swelled in the\n1950s around the struggle for \u2018\u00a31 a day\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one\npoint in the resolution which, we think, is not formulated correctly and could lead\nto misunderstanding. Paragraph 2 talks of employers in SA making “unrealistic\nprofits when compared with employers in other capitalist countries”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presumably by this\nthe resolution means that the capitalists are making higher profits in SA, and\ntherefore could be paying higher wages without becoming unprofitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is true that\nthe capitalists in South Africa have the advantage of cheap labour, and the\nruthless apartheid dictatorship to maintain it. It is true that in the past\nthis enabled them to get a higher rate of profit than capitalists in most other\ncountries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for a number\nof reasons the capitalists have not been investing fast enough in SA for the\nadvantages of cheap labour to keep them ahead. In fact new manufacturing\ninvestment has fallen in real terms by 50% since 1981.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the profit\nsystem is in crisis \u2013 in South Africa and in every capitalist country.\nFactories are closing and little investment is taking place. South Africa is no\nlonger considered a specially profitable place for capitalists to invest. Many\nare moving their money out of SA to more profitable areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the workers’ demand for a living wage cannot be\nallowed to depend on the profits made by the capitalists.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is true,\nhowever, that it is easier to get wage increases when the capitalists’ profits\nare increasing \u2013 and much more difficult when profits are going down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us look at the\nexperience of the militant car workers of Port Elizabeth. They were able to\nmake huge gains through strike action in 1979-80 when the economy was making an\nupturn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now during\nthe downturn which has affected the motor industry so badly, many workers have\nbeen made redundant and face starvation. The battle of workers for a living wage,\nrising in accordance with the cost of living, is inevitably a battle against\nthe capitalist class and their system \u2013 and needs to be consciously organised\non this basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Co-ordinate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the task\nof Cosatu to co-ordinate the member unions’ campaigns and to ensure that the\nemployers’ excuses for not paying a living wage are rejected by the workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resolution,\nby calling for the companies’ books to be opened, and pointing to the need for\nworkers’ control and management to replace bankrupt capitalism, shows the way to\na society in which a living wage for every worker can be sustained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the\nstrength of the unions today, the capitalists continue to slash jobs on every\nside in order to cut costs, particularly when their profit system is in crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\nredundancies spread worsening misery among workers and their families. In the\nPE-Uitenhage area alone, an estimated 80,000 black workers have lost their jobs\nduring the recession of the last two years. The bosses have used the downturn\nto inflict defeats on the organised workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Cosatu\u2019s\ncongress, the Sarmcol workers who served as stewards were a living reminder of\nthe bosses’ threat to jobs \u2013 and the need to fight back. At Sarmcol the bosses\ncut-back the workforce from 4,500 in the early 1970s to 1,300 last year \u2013 before\ndismissing the whole black work force when they fought for recognition of Mawu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resolution\non Unemployment<\/strong> sets out an\nexcellent approach to the struggle to save jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If active\ncampaigns are fought against retrenchments and closures; if whole communities\nare mobilised together with the workers \u2013 it could make it very difficult for\nemployers to throw workers onto the scrapheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nretrenchments are forced on the workers, the unions should consider allowing\nretrenched workers to keep their membership for a period, so that workers in\nthe factories remain alive to the battles which have to be fought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Organise Unemployed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The formation of\na national unemployed workers’ union is a key to the campaign \u2013 organising the\nhundreds-of-thousands of youth who have never had a job, arid bringing them,\ntogether with workers made redundant. Such a union will have a particular role\nduring strikes to explain to unemployed workers as a whole the need not to\nscab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the course of\nsuch campaigns, the policy and strategy for breaking the bosses\u2019 stranglehold\nand ending the menace of unemployment could be discussed among thousands of\nworking people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A magnificent\nexample of how to struggle with local general strikes and community support has\nbeen set by the Sarmcol workers in the Pietermaritzburg area. By linking\ntogether nationally the different local struggles over victimisations and\nredundancies, Cosatu could enormously increase the pressure on the bosses to\nreinstate workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most\nimportant objective of the congress was spelt out by Cyril Ramaphosa when he\nsaid that the politics or the working class\nhas to become the politics of all the oppressed people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The congress\nspelt-out some of the fundamental policies that workers are fighting for to\nliberate themselves \u2013 and by doing so, to liberate all the oppressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It recognised\nthe central role of the migrant labour system in the oppression of the black\nworking class, and set out the workers’ uncompromising demand for an end to all\nrestrictions on movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even more\ncrucially, the resolution on Migrant\nLabour<\/strong> commits Cosatu to fight to scrap the pass laws and influx control \u2013 massively\npopular demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comrade Elijah\nBarayi’s speech at the rally put the question concretely by calling for the passes\nto be burned if they were not abolished in six months. The ultimatum drew big\napplause from the assembled workers, showing that the activists are ready to\nmove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That there could be massive backing internationally for such a campaign was shown when a motion of support was put forward in the British parliament by the Marxist Labour MP, Dave Nellist, and was immediately endorsed by more than 50 other Labour MPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botha has now\npromised to scrap the dompas by 1 July and end the \u201cpass system” \u2013 but\nworkers are sceptical whether he will actually carry out this reform. Statements\nat the February CEC, and the resolution at the NUM conference, reflect that the\nmood of the activists and rank-and-file is still for Cosatu to take the\ninitiative in an action campaign to force Botha\u2019s hand and burn the passes if\nthe 1 July deadline is not met. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The congress\nthus declared war on the oldest instruments of apartheid domination; it equally\nrejected the new-style schemes for national oppression and division\nmasquerading under the title of Federalism<\/strong>.\nInstead, Cosatu has taken its stand on the revolutionary-democratic demand for\none-person-one-vote in an undivided South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resolution\non Federalism expresses the rejection by the organised workers of the schemes\nof every section of the capitalist class<\/strong>\n\u2013 including its so-called “progressive” wing, who know very well that\ntheir system would be mortally threatened by majority rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fighting for\none-person-one-vote in an undivided South Africa will place Cosatu (like the\nrest of the mass Congress movement) on a collision course, not only with the\napartheid regime but with the whole ruling class. The Cosatu leadership now has\na special duty to explain, throughout the working class, the class realities\nwhich underlie the struggle for majority rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The congress\nshowed, how widespread is the understanding that the working class has to lead\nall the oppressed to break capitalist power and build a new society, democratically\nruled by the working masses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issues which\nthe Cosatu leadership now have to take up are those posed by Cyril Ramaphosa \u2013 the\nbasis on which Cosatu unions can join forces with political, community and\nyouth organisations around the democratic and socialist programme of the\nworking class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he explained\nthe \u201cworkers\u2019 political strength depends upon building strong and militant\norganisation in the workplace\u201d. To be able to carry through bold political\ncampaigns, it is necessary to have the appropriate industrial muscle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Build a Mighty Movement!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the big\ngains made by the democratic unions which were reflected by the buoyant mood of\nthe congress, still bigger tasks face the movement. The campaigns on the\nnational minimum wage, for jobs, and the struggle against the pass laws, will\nattract many unorganised workers to Cosatu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the workers will also expect that progress should be made on the crucial question of merging the 34 different unions into ten strong industrial unions as early as possible this year. This is an organisational task which has to be pursued forcefully by the Cosatu leadership with full backing from the members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong unified\nindustrial unions will not only increase the effectiveness of industrial\nstruggles, but also the mobilisation of workers for political actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many\nhundreds-of-thousands of workers, organised and unorganised, support the UDF.\nBut most of the trade union leadership hesitated to take their forces into the\nUDF and establish there a clear working class programme and leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the\nworking class youth emerging as a socialist vanguard within the UDF have not\nreceived the backing they hoped for from the workers’ organisations. That must\nnow be remedied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision by\nthe February CEC to initiate discussions with the UDF opens the way to this,\nand can be taken up by Cosatu organs at all levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A firm proposal by\nCosatu for a united front on a specific action programme \u2013 e.g. for a national\nminimum wage, defence of jobs, against the passes, for the release of political\nprisoners, for unbanning the ANC, etc. \u2013 would help to focus the energies of\nthe youth and draw the widest sections of the working class into these\nstruggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this basis a\ncall could also be made to Cusa and other unions remaining outside Cosatu to\njoin the campaign. Either these leaders would have to join with us in a common\nstruggle or expose before their members an unwillingness to fight for their\ninterests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

International Links<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Cosatu\nthe working class has “never before been so powerful and so poised to make\na mark in society”, as one of its leaders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has also\nbeen recognised by the ruling class. They do not want to allow any breathing\nspace for Cosatu\u2019s challenge to be consolidated. Already, since the congress,\nthe blood of trade unionists has been spilt in cowardly attacks by Buthelezi’s\nthugs and lumpen police gangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes all\nthe more urgent the discussion of strategy \u2013 and also of Cosatu’s links with\nthe working class internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understandably\nthere has been unhappiness over the prospect of affiliation to any of the\ninternational trade union bureaucracies which claim to represent the workers.\nThe alternatives presented seem to be between the pro-capitalist ‘free’ trade\nunion officials or the Stalinist bureaucracies which were shown in Poland to\nrepresent nobody except themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only way in which genuine international solidarity can be built is on the same foundations as in South Africa \u2013 through links at all levels, on a firm policy of workers’ democracy and upon the common aspiration of workers everywhere to end oppression and exploitation through the transformation of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Transcribed from the original by the Marxist Workers Party (2019).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Resolutions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NATIONAL MINIMUM LIVING-WAGE <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing that:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The majority of workers in SA are\nearning starvation wages because of the present economic system, constantly rising\nprices (inflation) is making what little money workers have worth less and less\nevery day.<\/li>
  2. Employers in SA continue to\nmake massive and completely unrealistic profits when compared with employers in\nother capitalist countries.<\/li>
  3. Many millions of workers do not\nhave any minimum-wage protection whatsoever.<\/li>
  4. The issue of a living-wage is\none of the strongest points for organising the unorganised. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    We hereby resolve:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. That the Central Executive\nCommittee establish as soon as possible what workers regard as a minimum living-wage.<\/li>
    2. To initiate and conduct \u2013 in\nalliance with other progressive organisations and trade unions in the country \u2013\nan ongoing national campaign for a legally enforced national minimum living-wage\nfor all workers in SA, by amongst other things fighting in every industry through\nworker-action and negotiation for that minimum living-wage to be paid by all\nemployers.<\/li>
    3. To fight for this minimum\nliving-wage to be automatically linked to the rate of inflation.<\/li>
    4. To struggle for the abolition of\nGST on all essential items and worker-control over all deductions and UIF,\nwhich are being financed by workers but used against workers by the racist and\nanti-worker government.<\/li>
    5. To fight to open the books of\nevery organised company to that workers can see exactly how the wealth they have\nproduced is being wasted and misused by the employers’ profit-system, and on\nthat basis can demand their full share of the wealth they have produced. Should\nthe wealth not be there, then it will only prove the inefficiency of employer-management\nand strengthen the case for worker-control and management of production.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Proposed by CCAWUSA. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/div>\n\n\n\n

      UNEMPLOYMENT\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Noting:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. That under capitalist\nconditions of exploitation, unemployment is a reality facing every worker at\nall times.<\/li>
      2. That these unemployed workers\nare used as a reserve pool of labour by the bosses to keep wages low and to\nprovide a source of scab labour in the event of strikes.<\/li>
      3. That the interests of all\nworkers, whether employed or unemployed, are the same \u2013 the right to a job at a\ndecent living-wage.<\/li>
      4. That the unity of employed and\nunemployed workers is essential in the struggle against scabbing and to advance\nthe struggle for the right to work at a living wage.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        And further noting:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. That in SA there are millions\nof unemployed \u2013 a number that is increasing daily through retrenchments.<\/li>
        2. That the introduction of new\ntechnology for profiteering purposes is making the whole unemployment situation\neven worse. This is farther aggravated by pressure from employers for higher\nproductivity.<\/li>
        3. That many are abandoning all\nhope of finding suitable employment in the immediate future.<\/li>
        4. That for thousands of school\nleavers there is virtually no prospect of getting employment and therefore no\npossibility of drawing UIF benefits.<\/li>
        5. That unemployed workers are not\norganised in SA.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Congress therefore resolves to:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. Fight as one united force to defend all jobs threatened by retrenchments; fight the closing of the factories; and fight for participation in and control over \u2013 right from the planning stage \u2013 the implementation of any new technology. And fight all attempts by employers to make workers work harder and attempts to rationalise production, because in the present system this always leads to unemployment.<\/li>
          2. Campaign for a 40 hour week at full-pay and a ban on overtime.<\/li>
          3. Fight for free and increased unemployment benefits and that these benefits be paid in SA.<\/li>
          4. Fight for a subsistence fund, in addition to unemployed benefits, supported by rent, transport and medical concessions for all unemployed workers.<\/li>
          5. Demand that the state initiate a national programme of public works to provide jobs for the unemployed end to improve services and facilities in working class communities.<\/li>
          6. Fight for work-sharing on full-pay whenever workers face retrenchments.<\/li>
          7. Establish & national unemployed workers\u2019 union as a full-affiliate of the new federation to struggle for the realisation of the right to work and security.<\/li>
          8. Struggle for a fair, democratic and rational political and economic system which can guarantee full-employment for people in Southern Africa at a living wage.<\/li>
          9. To give full support to efforts by retrenched and dismissed workers to establish co-operatives based on the principles of Cosatu.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Composite resolution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            <\/div>\n\n\n\n

            MIGRANT LABOUR <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            This federation noting:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            1. That pass laws were legislated by\nthe apartheid regime to control and dehumanise the lives of the working class\nin SA.<\/li>
            2. That pass laws and influx control\nserved to strengthen the hand of capital to exploit and oppress the working class\nin its endeavour to generate super-profits.<\/li>
            3. That the economic and social\nhardships of the migrant labour system includes the break-up of family life and\nrelationships.<\/li>
            4. That the migrant labour system\nseeks to further divide the oppressed and exploited workers into permanent\nresidents and migrants.<\/li>
            5. That if the apartheid regime\npersists threatening to repatriate migrant workers to the homelands and\nneighbouring countries<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Resolves to:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

              1. Fight for the scrapping of the\nmigrant labour system including pass laws and influx control.<\/li>
              2. Fight for the right of workers\nto seek work wherever they wish and to reside with their families wherever they\nwish and that proper housing will be provided for them.<\/li>
              3. Call for a national strike\nshould the apartheid regime carry-out its threat to repatriate any migrant workers.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                Proposed by NUM.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                <\/div>\n\n\n\n

                FEDERALISM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                This Congress noting that:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                1. South Africa’s bitter history\nof industrialisation and exploitation has forged one nation.<\/li>
                2. That attempts by the apartheid\nregime to create and reconstruct separate states and nations which will be\ncombined into some federal system are fraudulent and undemocratic.<\/li>
                3. That the intention of the\nproposed federal system is to maintain power and control in the hands of the\npresent minority and perpetuate an oppressive and exploitative system.<\/li>
                4. That the diamond of all progressive\nand democratic forces in South Africa is for a unitary state based on one-person-one-vote.\n<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                  Resolves to:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  1. To reject as a total fraud the\nnew proposed federal solution.<\/li>
                  2. Re-affirms our belief in a\nunitary state based on one-person-one-vote.<\/li>
                  3. Work towards the destruction of\nall barriers and divisions so that we are united irrespective of language, race\nor creed.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                    And further believes that:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    Only with the total\nunification of all people into South Africa will we be able to rebuild our rich\nland and make a real contribution to breaking the chains of poverty and\neconomic exploitation that bind Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    Proposed by SFAWU.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

                    WOMEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    This federation\nnoting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    1. That women workers experience\nboth exploitation as workers and oppression as women and that black women are\nfurther discriminated against on the basis of race;<\/li>
                    2. The women are employed in a\nlimited range of occupations, doing boring and repetitive work with low and\noften unequal pay;<\/li>
                    3. That due to overtime and night-work\nwoman workers are subjected to many dangers while commuting;<\/li>
                    4. That women workers often suffer\nsexual harassment in recruitment and employment;<\/li>
                    5. That most women workers in\nSouth Africa lose their jobs when they become pregnant; <\/li>
                    6. That pregnant women often have\nto work under conditions harmful to themselves and their unborn child.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                      Resolves to fight:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      1. Against ell unequal and discriminatory\ntreatment of women at work, in society and in the federation;<\/li>
                      2. For the equal right of women\nand men to paid work as an important part of the broader aim to achieve full\nand freely chosen employment;<\/li>
                      3. For equal pay for work of equal\nvalue \u2013 the value of work must be determined by organised woman and men workers\nthemselves;<\/li>
                      4. For the restructuring of employment\nso as to allow women and men the opportunity of qualifying for jobs of equal\nvalue;<\/li>
                      5. For childcare and family\nfacilities to meet workers\u2019 needs and make It easier for workers to combine\nwork and family responsibilities;<\/li>
                      6. For full maternity rights,\nincluding paid maternity and paternity leave and job security;<\/li>
                      7. For the protection of women and\nmen from all types of work proved to be harmful to them, including work which\ninterferes with their ability to have children;<\/li>
                      8. Against sexual harassment in\nwhatever form it occurs;<\/li>
                      9. For adequate and safe transport\nfor workers doing overtime and night work.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                        Now commit itself:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        1. To actively campaign in support\nof these resolutions;<\/li>
                        2. To negotiate agreements with\ncompanies wherever possible as part of this campaign;<\/li>
                        3. To actively promote within its\neducation programme, a greater understanding of the specific discriminations suffered\nby women workers and ways in which these can be overcome;<\/li>
                        4. To establish a worker-controlled\nsub-committee within its educate programme to monitor progress made in implementing\nthis resolution and to make representations to the education committee;<\/li>
                        5. To budget for the workings of\nsuch a sub-committee;<\/li>
                        6. To actively promote the\nnecessary confidence and experience amongst women workers so that they can participate\nfully at all levels of the federation.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                          Proposed by CCAWUSA.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          \u00a9 Transcribed from the original by the Marxist Workers Party (2019).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                          Durban, 30 November – 1 December 1985 Originally appeared in Inqaba Ya Basebenzi No. 18-19 (February 1986) \u201cU-Cosatu-Sonyuka naya \u2019masingena enkululukweni…\u201d (Cosatu \u2013 we’ll rise […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1021,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1036","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"_hostinger_reach_plugin_has_subscription_block":false,"_hostinger_reach_plugin_is_elementor":false,"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1036"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1287,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1036\/revisions\/1287"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}