Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi on Wednesday called for the creation of a single public sector union.

"The overriding lesson from this strike is the urgent need to create a single public sector union that will have specialised units for all the professions that exist in the public service," Vavi told a South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) congress in Boksburg.

He urged Sadtu to ensure that a unified education sector union was part of their discussions.

"The next step is to ensure that you merge with all other teacher organisations in the country."

He said that the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) and South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) had long threatened to "marry" and this had to happen soon.

"It will be in our best interests to push for unity," he said.

Currently, getting things done in the bargaining council was a "nightmare".

The "aggressive egos" of everybody involved did not help.

He said that union leadership wanted to be on television to be seen by their members.

"We can't be presidents, all of us, comrades, it's not possible.

"Division is a luxury that we cannot afford.

"This is the overriding lesson or message of the strike."

The recent public sector strike saw the relationship between labour and government turn sour and had caused friction amongst the ruling alliance's Cosatu and the African National Congress (ANC).

Vavi said that the alliance was left "unsatisfied" by the ANC national general council's (NGC) position on the strategic centre of power.

"Cosatu has never questioned the role of the ANC as the leader of the alliance and as a centre of power on its own, but it is mischievous and contradictory to argue that the alliance, which has the ANC at its helm, is not in itself a strategic political centre of power," he said.

The question of the centre of power has been a sticking point between the ruling alliance partners, the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Cosatu.

Vavi expressed concern about those who "brandished quotes" about the alliance "not being a paper alliance in order to justify the sidelining of alliance components in a number of areas".

At the ANC NGC, President Jacob Zuma quoted former ANC president Oliver Tambo saying that the alliance was not a paper alliance.

Government also came under fire from Sadtu president Thobile Ntola at the congress, who labelled it as "nationalists" concerned only with "classifying information".

"Its [government's] priority is the classification and declassification of information," he said.

"They are not worried about poverty... they are worried about hiding information about tenders... they are worried about the fact that the media will expose all these things so they must be gagged."

Ntola also took a hard line on calls in the ANC for disciplinary action to be taken against alliance leaders.

"We must vow that no leader of the communist party or no leader of Cosatu speaking on behalf of their organisations will then be taken to the disciplinary committee of the ANC.

"Over our dead bodies," he said.

This followed calls by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema for disciplinary action to be taken against Vavi over remarks he made about the danger of "political hyenas".

Ntola also declared that the alliance would be the strategic centre of power despite the ANC comments to the contrary.

"They can make noise in public and in the media, we will get what we want," he said, adding that this fight would be fought in the streets and not in the boardroom.

"We are not expecting to be election fodder for a few individuals."

Ntola urged delegates at the congress to swell the ranks of the SACP because it was clear that this government "is not desperate for socialism".

The SACP must be strengthened so that socialism could be realised "in our lifetime", he said.

Ntola told delegates that they should be the "change agents" and not become corrupt themselves when they joined the ANC.

He criticised government's stance on education, saying: "Education was declared a priority by the current administration... this is just a public relations stunt."

Ntola further chastised teachers saying their main priority had to be to teach and to teach well.

"We can't be champions of only strikes for salaries and not for teaching and learning.

"All is not well if you don't teach."

Ntola said that teachers must master the art of teaching effectively and fighting for socialism at the same time in the next five years.

He said that the working class would take the ANC to 2012.

"The ANC must become the ANC of the working class, not the ANC with the working class bias.

"The ANC is our weapon. If it does not want to do it, it will do it screaming... we can't allow the ANC to be used as a spoon to feed individuals and leaders."

Speaking of the recent public sector strike, Ntola said that government officials did not give union demands the urgency it deserved because their children were in private schools, they used private hospitals and were protected by private security companies.

As the congress kicked off on Wednesday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga was heckled by some Sadtu members. But Ntola condemned the "heckling and howling" saying that those responsible would be dealt with.

"Whether you like it or not comrade Angie is the Minister of Education, I think that you must accept," he told delegates who again voiced their displeasure at the minister.

"Heckling might not be the way to go. Taking orders is not accepting defeat but becoming a member of the organisation," said Ntola.

Motshekga, however, said that she had always felt "comfortable" in the union and did not take the heckling personally.

"... after the strike, the dust has not yet settled so I was not shocked," the minister said on the sidelines of the congress.

She added that good and bad relations were part of politics.

"We fight today and then we are friends tomorrow. It is the nature of things."

SACP general secretary and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande is expected to address the congress on Thursday.