{"id":902,"date":"2019-11-27T11:50:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T09:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marxistworkersparty.org.za\/?p=902"},"modified":"2020-05-07T13:38:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T11:38:30","slug":"saa-workers-victorious-in-wage-battle-but-war-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?p=902","title":{"rendered":"SAA Workers Victorious in Wage Battle \u2013 But War Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Weizmann Hamilton & Bongani Nkosi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outcome of\nthe SAA strike is a victory. The Cabin Crew Association of South Africa and\nNumsa deserve the applause of all aviation workers and the working class as a\nwhole. In picketing in support of a strike co-led by a union not affiliated to\nthe federation, Saftu demonstrated not only the principle of working class\nsolidarity in action, but a recognition that what was at stake was not only the\nwages, jobs and conditions of SAA workers, but public sector workers as a whole\nand the working class in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
MWP members on the SAA picket line<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The SAA\nmanagement\u2019s government\u2013backed strategy was to bring the SAA workers to their\nknees, in preparation for a much wider assault on Eskom workers followed by other\nSOEs and the public sector workers. The strike was also meant to serve as a\ntesting ground for their new legislative weaponry in the coming wider class war\n\u2013 the LRA amendments calculated to cripple the right to strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That the LRA\u2019s\nanti-strike provisions failed to intimidate the cabin crew workers, has set an\nexample to the working class against whom these weapons will almost certainly\nbe deployed in the battles to come. Management\u2019s tactics also included a\ncynical attempt to use the well-known tactic of divide-and-rule by settling\nfirst and separately with the pilots who won a 5.9% increase and offering the\ncabin crews an insulting 0%. This was in fact an attempt to cut wages whose\npurchasing power is constantly eroded by inflation \u2013 ever-rising prices for\nbasic commodities, services, fuel, transport etc. In addition they sought acquiescence\nto the plans to retrench 944 workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every strike is\na battle for the hearts and minds of the public; for organised workers, those\nof the working and middle class public in particular. Despite the capitalist\nmedia\u2019s attempts to mobilise public opinion against the strike by raining down\na torrent of abuse on the workers and the unions, the strike enjoyed widespread\npublic sympathy including from inconvenienced air travellers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The capitalist\nmedia is now trying to wipe the rotten eggs from their faces after this setback\nfor the SAA management and their capitalist ANC government by belittling the\noutcome. In a\npiece<\/a> in which he even found room to denounce the Cuban Revolution of 1959\nthrough a naked falsification of history, Sikothinathi Manthantsha, Financial Mail<\/em> Deputy Editor who,\npresumably for a second income, moonlights at the Daily Maverick<\/em>, vented the hatred of the capitalist class. In a\nfrenzied attack, that would not be out of place in the speeches of Hitler\u2019s\npropaganda specialist, Goebbels, he rubbished claims of victory as a \u201cred lie\u201d,\ninsisted that Numsa had been subjected to a \u201chumbling\u201d defeat, urged workers to\nask what value unions bring for them, and denounced the government\u2019s\nundertaking to secure funding for the full settlement as a pre-meditated act of\ncriminality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misrepresenting\nfacts, Business Day<\/em>\u2019s Carol Paton repeats\nthe bourgeois line<\/a> that SAA workers \u201ctook a beating\u201d, because they had to\nsettle for the 5.9% offer on the eve of the strike. The fact is that the unions\nmobilised to strike against the 0% insult. Once the 5.9% was offered on the eve\nof the strike to prevent it, workers were absolutely correct to attempt to\npress home the advantage of the bosses\u2019 retreat. That they did not secure 8%\ndoes not detract from the stubborn fact that not only did they prevent a wage\ncut, they secured an increase no less than that obtained by the pilots. A\nblundering management first placed the 5.9% on the table on the eve of the\nstrike, withdrew it, only to reinstate it under the pressure of the strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As if to\nreassure them, Paton claims that \u201cbusiness and those who are pro-economic\nreform watched the SAA strike play out with approval. The government stood its\nground, was consistent in its message that the buck had stopped, and left the\ndispute to SAA management to resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this normally\nmuch more sober cadre of the capitalist class, tempers her triumphalism with a\nnote of sobriety:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Eskom is a far more complex and important institution, and the energy transition \u2014 which is really what restructuring Eskom is all about \u2014 entails deep social and economic change, in which the entire society has an interest. It is intensely political with many trade-offs to be made. A face-off with the unions is not a viable strategy<\/strong>. Negotiations will need to be profound and meaningful.<\/p> (Emphasis added.) <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Placing the\nlessons of the 2018 strike before her class, she concludes: that the2018 0%\noffer to NUM and Numsa at Eskom was a provocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Lessons of the Strike<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way\nas the capitalists, the labour movement must engage in a sober evaluation of the\noutcome of the strike, as well as the strategy and tactics employed, so as to prepare\nfor the next major battle in the class war that has been declared by the\nexecutive committee of the capitalist class \u2013 Ramaphosa\u2019s ANC government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nMantshantsha\u2019s further remarks show, SAA and government have emphasised that \u201cthe\nimplementation of that increase is highly conditional: it can only be\nimplemented if and when SAA secures funds for working capital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pressure on\ngovernment in effect to renege on the agreement has already begun not only from\nthe like of Mantshantsha, but from rating agency S&P and the IMF which,\npost-strike, issued what the capitalist press portrays as a \u201cbig warning\u201d to\nthe government to press ahead with \u201creforms\u201d, reign in public spending,\nespecially the public sector wage bill, and create conditions for private\nsector investment i.e. privatisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SAA strike\nwas a deliberate provocation to force a strike and create the climate in public\nopinion to justify wage cuts, retrenchment and privatisation. The cabin crew\nworkers\u2019 union, untested and unaffiliated, was considered a soft target, and\ndeliberately isolated by settling first with the pilots. The propaganda tap was\nopened over alleged \u201cover staffing\u201d, SAA\u2019s technical bankruptcy and continued\nreliance on government bail-outs with money that could be spent on service\ndelivery, as well as fighting corruption. These were all calculated to bring\nthe workers to their knees and to win the public over to privatisation to save government\nmoney being poured into an \u201cexpensive and unprofitable luxury\u201d.         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No reliance can\nbe placed on government\u2019s undertaking to secure the funding to pay the\nsettlement in full. All the pretexts for this war on the working class in which\nthe SAA workers were supposed to have been the first casualties, are still in\nplace: a widening budget deficit, declining tax revenue, low investment and low\neconomic growth. The bosses and their government\u2019s strategic objective remains\nto place the burden of the crisis on the shoulders of the working class. They\ntherefore retreated before the SAA workers to prepare for an even bigger offensive\nagainst the Eskom and public sector workers after the February\u2019 2020 budget\nwhen the rating agency Moody\u2019s \u201cfinal writing warning\u201d expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Public Sector<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitalist\neconomists like Investec\u2019s Nazreema Moola are already pressurising government\nto tear up the existing 3-year public sector collective agreement before it\nexpires in 2023, to cut annual bonuses, retention allowances (for Occupation\nSpecific Dispensation jobs) and annual notch increases. Government itself has\nreneged on the 2007 and 2010 collective agreements to fill public sector jobs\n\u201cwithin six months\u201d. Instead they are cutting jobs by stealth by not filling\nvacancies and offering penalty free early retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SAA workers\nmust therefore remain on high alert. More importantly, this battle was won with\nno involvement from the rest of the workers in the aviation industry much less\nthe public sector. It is now urgent that the entire aviation industry workforce\nbe unionised, in the first instance through a united front of existing unions,\na well as a rapid recruitment drive to unionise the unorganised. SAA is the last\nbastion of state ownership in the aviation industry that has spun off\nsubsidiaries like Air Chefs, Mango, Express, SA Express and Air Link. The\nunionisation drive must target workers employed by the parasitic service providers\nlike Bid Air, Swissport, Morena, Reshebile and Azda for insourcing. Workers complain\nthat since the involvement of ANC \u2018cadre\u2019 in the companies contracted to the SOEs,\nexploitation has increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no\nquestion that corruption is a critical factor of SAA\u2019s disastrous finances\nalongside the high cost of jet fuel \u2013 the biggest cost driver. The claim that a\nmultiplicity of airlines and competitive tendering for the supply of jet fuel\nwould create competition and thus bring down costs has been a resounding\nfailure. The partial privatisation of Telkom reduced its workforce from 60,000\nin 1994 to less than 10,000 today with more job cuts contemplated. The\ntelecommunication industry is dominated by a duopoly with call and data costs\namongst the highest in the world. The same fate awaits SAA workers and\npassengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As SAA worker\nand MWP member, Bongani Nkosi, points out, the National Transport Union (NTM)\nas well as the union from which it split away, the SA Transport and Allied\nWorkers Union (Satawu) have played an absolutely shameful, strike breakers\nrole. Comrade Bongani resigned from the NTM as a shop steward and member over\nthe NTM\u2019s collaboration with the bosses and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sacca and Numsa\nmust expand the united front forged during the SAA strike and make an appeal\nover the heads of these strike breaker union leaders, directly to the members\nthemselves to cleanse their unions of corruption and class collaboration, or to\njoin a union of their choice. By whatever route, they must be part of the\npreparations for the next battle for their jobs, conditions and wages that will\ncome under attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We say:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Oppose privatisation and\nretrenchments<\/li>
  • Establish a trade union and\nworker-led inquiry into the costs of SAA and the wasteful running of the entire\nairline industry<\/li>
  • Demand the re-integration of\nSAA subsidiaries back into SAA to achieve economies of scale and bring down\ncosts<\/li>
  • Demand an end to outsourcing
    • Insource all workers on\npermanent jobs on the same wages and conditions as SAA workers<\/li><\/ul>
      • Terminate the contracts of\noutsourced companies<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
      • Re-nationalise Sasol
        • Terminate jet fuel supply\ncontracts<\/li><\/ul>
          • Sasol to supply jet fuel to SAA\nat cost<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
          • Establish a united front of all\nunions in the aviation industry and all other SOEs <\/li>
          • Prepare for solidarity action\nwith Eskom, SOEs and public sector workers<\/li>
          • Demand that SAA be run under\nworkers control with representation from workers in the industry and from\norganised passengers <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            The Cosatu\nleadership\u2019s announcement that it could support the partial privatisation of \u201cnon-strategic\u201d\nSOEs, including SAA, is their most treacherous capitulation yet. It is only\nexceeded by their support for Ramaphosa\u2019s attacks on the right to strike in the\nLRA amendments. They have placed themselves at the service of the bosses and\nthe government against the working class. But in doing so they are placing\nthemselves on a direct collision course with their membership. In the looming attacks\non the SOEs and the public sector, Cosatu members will want to fight back to\ndefend their jobs, wages and conditions. They must organise to overturn the\nclass collaborationist policy of their leaders, including the demand that Cosatu\nbreaks from the Tripartite Alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            To assist Cosatu\nmembers to join the battle, Saftu should make a direct appeal to them \u2013\ninviting them to join the struggle against job losses, austerity and\nprivatisation regardless of the policy of their leaders. The Cosatu membership\ncould be drawn into a trade union united front by the creation of industrial\nlocals \u2013 workplace and area level action committees \u2013 that unite in struggle the\nworkers of all unions, federations and those not members of unions. The\nquestion of workers changing unions, or unions shifting affiliations, should be\none possible outcome of the experience of united struggle. But it cannot be\nmade a pre-condition for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            To add to the momentum\nof such an initiative, and to pile the pressure on the Cosatu leaders, Saftu\ncould reconvene the Working Class Summit (WCS), inviting ordinary Cosatu\nmembers and shop stewards to discuss the way forward for the struggle,\nincluding placing the idea of a general strike in response to the February 2020\nbudget on the table. As an integral part of organising a working class fightback,\nworking class political representation must be discussed again, and a plan made\nto urgently implement the Saftu and WCS resolutions in favour of founding a\nworkers party. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The outcome of the SAA strike is a victory. SACCA and Numsa deserve the applause of all workers. What are the lessons of the strike?<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-902","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\/902","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=902"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":958,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions\/958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}