{"id":891,"date":"2019-11-20T05:19:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T03:19:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marxistworkersparty.org.za\/?p=891"},"modified":"2020-05-07T13:39:04","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T11:39:04","slug":"for-workers-control-of-saa-restructure-in-the-interests-of-saa-workers-passengers-not-moodys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?p=891","title":{"rendered":"For Workers\u2019 Control of SAA. Restructure in the Interests of SAA Workers & Passengers NOT Moody\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sack the board! End outsourcing!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Marxist Workers Party stands in full solidarity with SAA\nworkers!!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The SAA management\nand the Ramaphosa government are determined to defeat the SAA strike. From her\ncomments at the SAA board\u2019s press briefing on 19 November it is clear that\nThandeka Mgoduso, SAA\u2019s acting chair, along with the rest of the board, view\ntheir own workers with contempt and the workers\u2019 unions with outright\nhostility. We agree with Numsa and SACCA \u2013 this board must go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
SACCA member on SAA Technical Picket Line<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But this simply poses a new problem \u2013 who will replace the board? With what mandate will they sit on the board? And who will give it to them? Dudu Myeni chaired the SAA board with a mandate from Zuma: loot money for him and his Gupta associates. Mgoduso has been implicated in tender irregularities already! But she also sits with a mandate from Ramaphosa: cut costs at SAA through \u201cre-structuring\u201d in preparation for privatisation, i.e. by freezing wages and cutting jobs. Mgoduso and the SAA board represent the advanced troops in what is the opening battle of a full-scale war to be waged on public sector and SOE workers by Ramaphosa and the ANC government. They need to defeat the SAA workers to set the tone for the coming struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the\npresidency of Ramaphosa, the current board, whilst refusing the modest wage\ndemands of SAA workers, have created a nice trough for their own snouts. In\nJuly 2018, R16 million was spent hiring new executives. Recently resigned CEO,\nVuyani Jarana, flew in, and then flew out, pocketing a R6.7 million annual\nsalary. Presumably the new acting CEO is on a similar package. The board is\neven helping others to make a profit from sacking workers. Deutsch Bank was\npaid R25 million in consultation fees on how to restructure SAA\u2019s debt. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even if Mgoduso and the entire board are forced to resign, they will be replaced by a new board with exactly the same mandate <\/em>from Ramaphosa. Wage rises will still be resisted; jobs will still be at risk. Workers\u2019 issues would remain completely unresolved. The trade union movement needs to demand something different: workers control and management of SAA<\/em>. This is the only way that the airline can genuinely be run in the interests of workers and passengers. This strike is the wielding of a veto by SAA workers over the decisions of the board. Why not deepen and extend that level of oversight to all aspects of the management of SAA?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board should\nbe composed of elected representatives of SAA workers, their trade unions and\npassenger groups. On this basis board members could be instantly recallable if\nthey are not performing. There would be no need for the ludicrous salaries\ncurrently being paid. Elected board members could serve on the same principle\nas full time shop stewards \u2013 paid their normal salary and released from their\nday-job for the duration of their term, with any necessary expenses openly and\ntransparently covered. Any specialists that need to be employed by the board\nwould be strictly under its management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Nationalisations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demand for\nthe insourcing of security, cleaning, IT, ground-handling and logistics is hugely\nimportant. Outsourcing never benefits anyone other than the parasites running the\noutsourced companies. The various consultants and contractors, who are no\nbetter than vultures, must be kicked out. But this should only be the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Workers Protest – Grounded Planes Visible in the Background<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mango and SA Express should be fully reintegrated with SAA. The government is absolutely wrong that privatisation has any place in the solution of SA\u2019s economic problems (see SA\u2019s Economic Crisis<\/a>). The economy needs more<\/em> integration, economies of scale and planning\u2026 not less! For example, Sasol, which was privatised in 2000, should be re-nationalised, and provide fuel to SAA at cost. Nationalisation of the banks \u2013 Standard Bank, FNB, Absa and Nedbank \u2013 is also crucial for resolving the SOE debt crisis and the wider economic crisis too. This would allow for low interest (or no interest) loans to the SOEs, the reduction of interest on existing loans, or cancelling debt entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a programme\ncould see the restructuring of SAA in the interests of workers, passengers and\nthe working and middle class more generally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Right to Strike<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the press\nconference, Mgoduso indicated that the board will take Numsa and SACCA to the\nLabour Court for breeching picketing rules and \u201cintroducing additional demands\u201d\ninto the strike. They mean the issue of job losses\u2026 which they only announced after<\/em> wage talks dead-locked!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board\u2019s\napplication to the Labour Court will make use of the amendments to the Labour\nRelations Act introduced last year in anticipation of the major class conflicts\nthe economic crisis poses. If the board and the government start using the\ncourts against the SAA strike, it will be a clear signal that in the coming\nbattles, the right to strike is under attack, just as much as wages, benefits\nand jobs. The trade union movement has to be prepared to defy these unjust laws\nthrough organised mass disobedience. The demand for their repeal and the\nintroduction of a trade union freedom bill needs to be raised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear of\nde-registration will haunt many union officials when they read this. But the\nnew rules on secret strike ballots, compulsory arbitration, tighter picketing\nrules etc. were designed to put the maximum pressure on the trade union\nbureaucracy to police working class struggle. We cannot dance to that tune. The\nthreat of de-registration, cost awards, etc. can be overcome with creative\nlegal tactics as long as there is a will to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Workers Party<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government\nand all the parties sitting in parliament are fully signed-up to the\n\u2018necessity\u2019 for austerity in the public sector. They will be willing agents of\nimperialism\u2019s watchdog Moody\u2019s. On their watch, if big business and their\njunior partners in politically connected elite BEE vehicles think they can make\nmoney from SOEs they will be sold \u2013 privatised. Those SOEs that can\u2019t easily be\nsold off will remain the milking cows of politically connected tenderpreneurs\nvia outsourcing, whilst subsidising big business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mass movement\nneeds to be built against job losses, austerity and privatisation. A united\nfront of the trade union movement is necessary \u2013 of the kind that exists at SAA\nin the co-operation of the Numsa and SACCA leaderships and the unity of the\nworkers in struggle on the ground. Such a united front could prepare the ground\nfor the unity of public and private sector workers (who are also facing wide-scale\nretrenchments) in a general strike, especially following the February 2020\nbudget which will indicate how the government axe will be wielded, and force\nthe government to back down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any mass\nmovement will need to tackle the question of working class political\nrepresentation \u2013 a workers party. A trade union challenges management\u2019s control\nof the workplace on a daily basis, as the SAA workers are currently doing. The\nworkers movement cannot leave the bosses\u2019 political control of society\nunchallenged \u2013 workers need to build their own party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the Saftu\ntrade union federation and the Working Class Summit which Saftu convened in\nJuly 2018 (bringing together dozens of working class organisations) have both\ntaken positions in favour of creating a workers party. A workers party which\nunites the class\u2019s struggles in the workplaces, the communities and in the\nschools, colleges and universities will be an indispensable weapon against the\neffects of the capitalist crisis, allowing the workers movement to open a\nsecond front against the class enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To begin\nbuilding the political unity of the working class, a workers party will need to\nbe organised on a federal<\/em> basis in\nits initial stage \u2013 allowing unions, community structures, youth campaigns and\nthe existing working class political groups and parties to affiliate.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> \u201cSAA is paying millions for \u2018consultant\u2019 executives to do 6 months work<\/a>\u201d, BusinessTech<\/em> (26 July 2018)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sack the board! End outsourcing! The Marxist Workers Party stands in full solidarity with SAA workers!!<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-saa","category-workplace-struggle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"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=891"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":901,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891\/revisions\/901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}