Chairperson of the session,
National Office Bearers of the ANC and NEC members
Chairperson of the IR Sub Committee, Comrade Bapela
Members of the Sub Committee
Comrades in the house

COSATU takes this opportunity to welcome this important space for reflection and critical feedback about our work, particularly in the international arena, as a movement, alliance, government and as a people.

We have always been guided by the most advanced values of internationalism and solidarity at the height of our struggle against apartheid, because we were doing what a liberation movement as a force for progressive change, is principally about.

In assuming state power, we had to occupy new spaces which came with their own strictures and limitations, some of which we ourselves imposed on our work as new languages, cultures and codes of behaviour changed our political and ideological out-fits to suit the new terrain.

We have, undoubtedly made progress in several spheres, but we must avoid being casual about the new terrain and what has happened. We must be ready to face hard and uncomfortable questions about our work, the state of progressive forces and the global balance of power today.

COSATU is not exempting itself from these hard questions, which we also are hard at work grappling about as we seek to find the most appropriate ways forward.
The question before me today is regarding the state of the international trade union movement in the world today and what prospects it holds for real and progressive change towards a new and just world order.

So much can be said about it, but let me get to the most salient points we would like to raise about this important subject; COSATU was born in 1985 at the height of the struggle against apartheid, in which international solidarity was a key pillar of our struggle, hence the centrality of our internationalist outlook. International solidarity is one of the founding principles of the federation, which clearly spells out that our domestic struggles are intimately connected to the struggles being waged by workers all over the world. In the words of Karl Marx, “workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains”. This is precisely because capital knows no boundaries and exploits workers wherever such a possibility presents itself.

We are guided by 6 Objectives of our international work, which are;

• Building a strong, united, worker-controlled and progressive international trade union movement
• Fighting for global economic justice
• Fighting for human and trade union rights, an end to all forms of oppression, and the pursuit of social justice all over the world
• Fighting against climate change and for environmental justice
• Building, promoting and defending working class alternatives to neo-liberalism and capitalism
• Building the required capacity, systems and infrastructure to effectively pursue our international objectives
In doing all of this work we base ourselves on the principles of working class internationalism, anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism, unity of workers, practical and concrete solidarity activism, rejection of racism, sexism, homophobia and all other forms of inequality and oppression, democratic worker control and alliances with other progressive forces beyond the workplace.

It is important for us to introduce these basics in order to locate correctly the arguments and issues we shall raise as we engage deeper into this discussion about the state of the international trade union movement.

The trade union movement and the broader working class are waging struggles in the era which according to the theory of imperialism is defined by two primary elements;
• The internationalisation of production, circulation and investment of capital
• The interpenetration of private capital and the nation-state, leading to emergence of foreign policies based on the intersecting interests of the dominant forces at the helm of power in both the private and public spheres of society
The International trade union movement – a cocktail of “strange” allies as social forces in unity and struggle

There are two main bodies of the international trade union movement today; the WFTU and the ITUC. They represent different ideological and political outlooks on major questions facing humanity today, particularly facing the working class. I shall not delve into the specific orientation of each one of them, but shall generalise the trends, tendencies and approaches in the context of the broad struggle of workers.

The most defining feature of the world trade union movement today is that, like states, it is characterised by unequal power relations, particularly between the north and the south. The trade unions from the industrialised countries of the north largely see themselves as having a share in the existing world system and therefore, having the responsibility to defend the key features of the obtaining system. They feel threatened, in many cases, by the militancy and fighting power of the working class from the global south.

They collaborate with their ruling classes in the sustenance of the key features of the dominant global system and in neutralising the fighting power of workers from the global south for the radical restructuring of the global political and economic system.

This tends to be the key defining feature of the international trade union movement, where the struggle within the struggle takes different forms and gravitate towards narrow national chauvinism rather than international solidarity and justice for all workers.

The main defining features of the international trade union movement tend to be;

• Concentration of power mainly in the global north, where the trade unions have the most resources than all of us
• Over-bureaucratisation of processes, decision-making and resources in the hands of those who wield more power
• Peripheralisation and marginalisation of the global south and their roles, particularly in leadership positions, except in ceremonial and symbolic positions
• Focus and agenda largely set by the powerful unions in the global north
• The northern unions are highly organised and operate in a group fashion, while we in the south are less organised and tend to operate as individual countries, unions or areas
• Issues that threaten the interests of the global north and their ruling classes often fail to make the agenda, such as Palestine, Cuba, Western Sahara and Colombia, together with fair and just trade for the industrialisation of Africa, as well as confronting multinational companies for looting our natural resources
• The Africa region is the least influential, with less vibrant traditions of activism, resulting in conventional and orthodox forms of lobbying that yield no result on major questions nationally and globally
The African trade union movement and its posture today

Our main focus and interest is our own continent, which is our backyard. There are three trade union centres on the continent; ITUC-Africa, WFTU-Africa and OATUU. There are also regional trade union bodies, such as; SATUCC in Southern Africa, OTUWA in West Africa, EATUC in East Africa, the Mahgreb Trade Union Forum and ICATU in North Africa And parts of the Middle East, as well as a Central African trade union coordinating body.

The weak state of the African trade union movement resulting from its weak national and local structures, in many parts of the continent leaves society at the mercy of ruthless ruling classes and multinational corporations. In several African countries, the trade union movement is the last line of defence, where political organisations are either banned or too weak or even part of the ruling elite, in some instances with NGOs sharing same traits too.

The African trade union movement as a result of its weak state, fails to articulate the practical issues, real class aspirations and political interests of workers in many cases, hence their irrelevance to the majority of workers and society.

In those cases where they play their role effectively, they lack support and solidarity from major parts of society, resulting in isolation and finally, defeat. But various elements of the trade union movement on the continent are held back by conservative class collaborators, as was the case in Egypt where ETUF was lackey of Hosni Mubarak and contained the whole working class struggle.

The biggest problem is when the trade union movement is so divorced from the most fundamental issues of the continent’s political economy to the point of failing to articulate the broader political economy agenda for industrialisation to confront underdevelopment, backwardness and poverty, compounded by joblessness.
In summary the African trade union movement is defined by the following features;

• Weak organising and campaigning capacity
• Weak capacity for research and policy analysis to engage on matters of national and continental importance
• Poor leadership, at times undemocratic perpetuation of individuals in power, without and form of worker control and due democratic processes
• Poor women representation, participation and involvement
• Poor financial and resource capacity to do effective work
• Over-reliance on patronage and external funding which results in undue external influence and control
• Undemocratic political environment in most instances, resulting in crushing of workers struggles
• Weak conceptualisation of the real problem facing Africa, to the point of substituting it with manifestations of the problem, such as poor working conditions, which gets divorced from the real political economy base of underdevelopment and neo-colonial accumulation.

Conclusion

We hope that in our attempts to draw general conclusions and trends from the various parts of the international trade union movement, we have not sent confusing signals about what the salient points and key defining features are and what would be required to build a vibrant, clear and advanced trade union movement, with the requisite political and organisational capacity to drive a decisive and bold agenda.

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