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JOHANNESBURG,
Aug 27 (IPS) - The World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), due to
begin in the port town of Durban Friday, comes at a time of growing
shop-floor unity between South Africa's black and white workers
.
Workers
and their unions have traditionally been divided along racial lines.
While the lines have blurred since the formal end of apartheid in
1994, white workers have generally stayed out of mainly black trade
unions.
However,
there are signs that South African workers are putting aside their
differences and slowly uniting around demands for better pay and
working conditions.
In
the motor industry - where a three-week strike by workers has just
ended - members of the predominantly white Mynwerkersunion-Solidarity
(MWU-Solidarity) refused to fill-in for striking workers. The strike
was led by the mainly black National Union of Metalworkers of South
Africa (Numsa). Numsa is an affiliate of the 1.7-million-strong
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
Numsa
and MWU-Solidarity are also cooperating in the rubber and tyre industry,
where workers stopped work Monday in support of wage demands.
In
the steel industry, the two unions also cooperated during wage negotiations
and a short strike last month.
"Workers
have common issues at the factory, despite their differences,"
says Numsa spokesman Dumisa Ntuli.
MWU-Solidarity
spokesman Dirk Herman adds, "We and Numsa will try to support
each other strategically and develop a model of co-operation that
will most probably include joint actions."
However,
despite this apparent goodwill, the sharp differences between black
and white unions are highlighted by the positions they will take
at the racism conference.
MWU-Solidarity
plans to ask delegates at the conference for support in its fight
against "neo-racism". In South Africa, conservative and
liberal whites often describe affirmative action or Black Economic
Empowerment - a government driven programme to advance Black people
in political, social and economic life in South Africa - as "neo-racism".
"The
different governments are requested in the memorandum to support
the viewpoint that inequalities of the past should be addressed
in such a way that new forms of racism are not being created in
the process," MWU-Solidarity says. Many whites feel affirmative
action is directed against them and blacks are being promoted at
their cost.
Cosatu
is a firm supporter of affirmative action and Black Economic Empowerment
- although the trade union federation often warns that the process
must not just enrich a few individuals.
MWU-Solidarity
will also withhold its support for Cosatu's call for a general strike
against the government's plans to restructure and sell-off some
state-owned assets.
While
Cosatu is a close political ally of South Africa's ruling African
National Congress (ANC), it has sharp differences with the government
over its corporate restructuring and privatisation plans.
The
trade union federation insists government's plans will results in
job losses and it believes the state will not be able to deliver
essential services to the country's poor if it sells the utilities
that provide water, electricity and telecommunications, among others.
Businesses, Cosatu argues, will only provide services to those who
can afford them.
The
government counters that it is only trying to get rid of costly
assets that are of no real benefit to the state - like holiday resorts
and mining operations. It also argues that it needs to involve private
companies in major enterprises and utilities so they can bring in
expertise and capital that the government simply cannot afford.
The
general strike is scheduled for Aug. 29-30 and may mar the opening
of the racism conference.
Slamming
its labour ally, the government said: "A conference historically
being held on the African continent for the very first time, dealing
with matters that are at the core of the transformation objectives
of South African society, stands the danger of being severely undermined,
by an organisation that professes to support its objectives."
Herman
describes the strike as a "power-play" between the ANC
and Cosatu. "We do not want to get involved in the internal
rivalries of their alliance," says Herman.
MWU-Solidarity
also differs with Cosatu over economic policy. The trade union federation
is still committed to building socialism in South Africa, while
MWU-Solidarity leans more towards a free-market system. (END)
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