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CWU Post-Congress Media Statement [press release](AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Communication Workers Union (CWU) held its 5th National Congress from 22-25 September 2014 in White River, Mpumalanga which was a resounding success by all means. Congress was attended by 138 voting delegates from all 9 provinces of our country including 5 National Office Bearers as well as guest from sister unions, the Alliance, representatives from service providers as we as our sponsors. We can say with confidence that we started our national congress a united force with unity of purpose and came out even stronger and more united. Convened under the theme:"Build a Class-Conscious and Militant Union to Advance Working Class Power and Social Justice"', Congress took resolutions on a number of issues pertinent to the broad Industry we organise in. ON THE ICT SECTOR Congress undertook a thorough analysis of the Information and Communication Technology landscape and its political economy globally and here at home. We noted the fact that the ICT sector is the fastest growing sector of the world economy and a key enabler in the mobility of capital across boundaries. It is our contention that this industry like the entirety of the private sector is driven primarily by the forces of neo-liberalism whose class agenda is premised on capitalist accumulation at the expense of the working people. Capital through the exploited labour of workers produces cellphones, internet and other electronics not so much for universal access and human use, but for generating super profits on a worldwide scale. Workers in old and new ICT industries continue to suffer widespread economic exploitation characterised by low wages, little skills development, casualization and the use of labour brokers. ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN POST OFFICE (SAPO) Congress has noted with great concern the general regression and deterioration in this critical public entity. The divide-and-rule tactics of management and the resulting proliferation of splinter pseudo-unions in the Post Office is not in the best interest of service delivery. The employment of young workers as casuals or permanent part-timers is an unacceptable phenomenon that has to come to an end. Workers are no longer secure; salaries are not paid on time due to serious financial mismanagement and sheer corruption. We therefore call for the urgent implementation of the turnaround strategy that government and the board have long promised to put on a sound administrative and management footing. Such as turnaround and improvement in the functioning of the SAPO is not possible under the current corrupt and inefficient management. ON THE CURRENT STRIKE ACTION IN THE SAPO For this reason, Congress has made a call for drastic measures and a major shake-up, central to which is the immediate removal of the current top management. The problems in the Post Office are not limited to management. There is also a serious crisis of governance. Consequently, we call on government to seriously consider the removal of the entire Board. This will help to stabilise and restore the Post Office to a firm footing and position it to take on a greater role in delivering government services to the people of our country including those in deep rural areas within the context of a developmental state. ON THE SABC The SABC must be capacitated and well-resourced to carry out its functions as a public broadcaster. We call on the state to increase funding to this institution so that the SABC does not rely more on the private sector for the bulk of its revenue, thus making it beholden to bourgeois commercial interests. As part of making broadcasting services and access to reliable news accessible to all the citizens of this country, we call for the SABC News Channel (Channel 404) to be available to all and sundry and not just those who currently afford DSTV. This channel must be available in as many indigenous languages of our people. We support the planned march to the SABC by COSATU and the SACP to call for transformation on behalf of the working class and the poor. ON DIGITAL MIGRATION We take a view that set-top boxes must have encryption. This will make sure that the boxes are centrally controlled, the poor and the rich will be treated the same. Without encryption, the rich will have an upper hand with expensive tv's that might not need set-top boxes. We also feel that there should be a clear qualifying criteria for the poor, senior citizens to qualify for subsidy. We call for 100% local manufacturing and to assemble the set-top boxes. ON TELKOM Congress has called for a meaningful restructuring whose end-result is the advancement of the interests of workers and the broad South African society and not the current restructuring along a neo-liberal path benefiting the few elite. We further call for an immediate moratorium on retrenchments and a full nationalisation of Telkom. The noble objective of universal access to technological products, the internet, full and faster broadband coverage by 2020 and the roll-out of ICT infrastructure can only be achieved with Telkom playing a greater role. ON ICASA We believe this entity must be supported in its legislative task of regulating the ICT sector in South Africa. We support its drive to reducing the high cost of communication in our country through various measures, not least amongst these being the rapid reduction of mobile termination rates (MTRs) which is the rate cellphone companies charge one another to carry calls across networks. ON SENTECH This high-tech state owned company charged with the responsibility of signal redistribution to the country's broadcasters, public and commercial needs to do better as far as improving the fringe benefits of its workers including better housing and a 13th cheque to be on par with the rest of the state sector. CWU shall be closely monitoring the situation in this SOE going forward. ON BUILDING A UNITED COSATU CWU remains a loyal affiliate of the trade union federation (Umfelandayonye wa basebenzi) COSATU and is committed to doing everything to build and preserve its unity. Pursuant to this, we fully support the current intervention by the African National Congress led by Deputy President Comrade Cyril Ramaphosa to assist the federation to overcome its internal challenges. This intervention and its outcome must respect the federation's core founding principles such as worker control which in essence guarantees internal democratic processes within the structures and affiliates of COSATU. As CWU we shall do all in our power to not only restore the unity in our Federation but to restore it to its former glory. There is an urgent need to reverse once and for all the current paralysis afflicting COSATU as it is not in the best interest of COSATU, neither that of the working class as a whole nor the National Democratic Revolution. ON REPOSITIONING CWU Congress conceded that indeed we have not been as aggressive and effective as we should and agreed on the need to have our footprints firmly etched within this sector. This is to make CWU relevant as the Union of 'choice'. In this regard, Congress resolved to mount an aggressive programme to recruit massively in this fast growing industry and that the content of such programme be clearly elaborated. This mass recruitment drive will be led by CWU President at a national level. We shall also campaign against the use of labour brokers and the downgrading and erosion of workers conditions and benefits through casualisation within the sector. Congress agreed on the necessity for CWU to regain lost grounds in all the sub-sector we organise in. We shall also convene workers forums in major workplaces to intensify contact with workers at shop-floor or yard level so as to close the social distance which is so rife in many trade unions today. Consistent with the COSATU principle of One Union One Industry, we shall strive to become the leading if not the sole trade union within the SAPO, Telkom, SABC, the Call Centres and other key institutions in the country. For we believe only CWU has the track-record and the capacity to organise and fight for workers in the broad ICT sector of our country. We are proud of our history and confident of the future. OUR NEW LEADERSHIP Linked to the agenda of organizational renewal, Congress elected a leadership collective of cadres with a proven track-record, skills and expertise to take the CWU forward to new heights. The newly-elected National Office Bearers are as follows: President - Clyde Mervin First Deputy President - Sontaga Mantlhakga Second Deputy President - Ntomboxolo Thembani Maheneza General Secretary - Aubrey Tshabalala Deputy General Secretary - Thabo Mogalane National Treasurer - Lionel Brown This is the team entrusted with the historical responsibility to lead the union into a new era over a 3-year period. Copyright Congress of South African Trade Unions. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |