NEHAWU 3.png
3 November 2013 NEHAWU NEC Statement NEHAWU held a successful National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on the 30-31st of October 2013. This was the first NEC meeting of the 10th National Congress and it discussed a wide range of topics from political, international, socio-economic and organisational issues. The union also did a thorough assessment of our 10th National Congress and the resulting four year program of action. Internationally, the NEC took place in the wake of a number of worldwide developments. Communist and progressive forces around the world are celebrating the 96th anniversary of the victory of the great October Russian revolution of 1917 at a time when the capitalist crisis saw the revitalisation of the ideas underpinning this revolution. The United States narrowly averted a lengthy fiscal shutdown of the federal government; we have witnessed an upward trajectory in the development of the BRICS political and economic agenda; Syria and Iran remain major centres of geo-political attention. Politically, the NEC reaffirmed its commitment to pursue the goals of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR), primarily to liberate Africans in particular and black people in general from political and economic bondage through the transformation of the state machinery and wealth redistribution. In pursuing the goals of the NDR we are guided by the ANC Stellenbosch document that said: 'Because property relations are at the core of all social systems', the tensions arising from redistribution would have to be managed via 'dexterity in tact, and firmness in principle'. For us the NDR provides the foundation for a shift to a socialist society and the 53rd ANC Mangaung conference consolidated the working class gains through the progressive resolutions that were adopted. Economically, the financial crisis of 2008 clearly demonstrated the bankruptcy of neo-liberalism and despite this we have seen a disturbing fanaticism by the Treasury and the Reserve Bank, who continue in a trajectory that closes space for progressive alternatives and continue to pursue neoliberal policies. We have noted that the Reserve Bank and Treasury are acting like the local branches of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).We denounce this fanaticism by these two institutions and we do not believe that the policies they pursue will help us build a national democratic society and also address the historical injustices including the eradication of apartheid production relations. Political The NEC concluded that the outcomes of the Alliance Summit held in September 2013 reflect the further deepening of the convergence within the mainstream of the Alliance on a range of policy issues. There was agreement on infrastructure and industrialisation, land and agrarian reform, labour market and youth employment, the state's role in the economy and macroeconomic policy. We are happy that regarding the NDP, the Alliance Summit agreed that the work of the National Planning Commission would now be institutionalized within the state and the NPC shall remain in an external advisory capacity. The alliance also agreed that the NDP is a living document, not cast in stone, and will be modified where necessary. It was concluded that, where there is agreement like the need for a capable developmental state, we shall push ahead with implementation and where there are disagreements like the economic chapter; it shall be referred to the Alliance Task Team. The NEC welcomes the fact that the alliance agreed that the alliance outcomes, including the work of the Alliance Task Team shall feed into the 2014 ANC election manifesto. We reiterate our long held position that the central strategic task of the organised working class is to build working class hegemony in all key sites of power, including within the ANC and the state. This is in line with the framework of our federation's (COSATU) 2015 Plan and its 9th and 10th congresses. 2014 National Elections We commit to ardently campaign for the ANC in the upcoming national general elections in order to ensure that the ANC achieves an overwhelming two-thirds majority and also boldly pursue the radical second phase of the transition as mandated by its 53rd national conference. We shall build our union elections machinery and a comprehensive elections strategy that will include voter education and registration for young workers. We shall ensure that the ANC's adopted election manifesto responds to the needs of the working class and also speaks to the radical second phase of our transition. Congress of South African Trade Unions We call on the federation to speedily complete the ongoing internal processes and start focusing on implementing the program of action that came out of the 11th COSATU National Congress. The NEC condemned those who have undermined the federation by challenging its decisions in court and resolved to defend the federation on all fronts including in the courts. The NEC also expressed disapproval of those, who constantly threaten to break away from the federation and indulge in acts of brinksmanship to the detriment of the unity of the federation. We will continue to work for the unity of the federation and will not allow ideological puritans and political mavericks to divide the organisation of the workers. We congratulate our sister union SADTU for showing high levels of discipline in relation to internal challenges facings the federation. SADTU in its NGC, accepted the outcomes of the COSATU SCEC and promised to respect the internal processes of COSATU. The union noted with concern the statements attributed to the suspended General Secretary of the federation, published by an imperialist mouthpiece, the Financial Times. He is quoted as saying that he is intent on "winning back COSATU". We want to clarify that COSATU is a federation that belongs to the workers and not individuals and therefore cannot be won or lost by its elected leaders like a medieval kingdom. This statement points to what is currently wrong with COSATU, where some leaders have appropriated to themselves an infinite right to lead. They no longer see themselves as leaders accountable to the structures of the federation but as emperors presiding over a kingdom and with unlimited powers. The union respects and accepts that the COSATU constitution allows for affiliates to request for a special congress to be convened, but we strongly feel that those, who have recently made this call, are not doing so in the interests of building and defending COSATU as an organisation but for their factionalist reasons. Socio-Economic; Fiscal policy stance The NEC is disappointed by the Treasury's tame counter-fiscal policy stance during the MTBPS which is unlikely to stimulate growth over the medium term period. The union is also concerned that Treasury forfeited over R7 billion due to the tax cuts announced in February this year. It is very disappointing that there are more tax concessions proposed by the Treasury that will benefit businesses in the Employment Tax Incentive Bill, especially in the special economic zones. We are concerned that many businesses will relocate to these zones at the expense of other localities and will want to experiment with de-unionisation and super-exploitation as happened in the sweat-shops of East Asia. This also goes against the perspective of accelerated industrialisation as an alternative economic development trajectory in order to provide decent jobs. The NEC warned government to desist from making contemptuous statements that blame the public service wage bill over substandard service delivery and government failures. This will poison the well ahead of the next round of collective bargaining in the public service in 2015. The union welcomed the measures announced by the Minister of Finance geared at reducing and curtailing the wastage and abuse of the public resources. However, we call on government to also focus on the wastages incurred by the state for using public-private-partnerships, tenders including the use of consultants. We reiterate our call for the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank. We support the planned move to give credit amnesty to those who have since met their debt obligations. The NEC reiterated the union's support for COSATU's principled opposition to e-tolling, labour broking and the youth wage subsidy now being introduced in the form of the Employment Tax Incentive Bill. In this regard we will immediately start our preparations and mobilisation of our members in preparation for COSATU's national mass action programme. Health The NEC called for the NHI fund to be established as a single public body with the sole purpose of pooling funds together and purchasing health services. We shall respond to the publication of the draft White Paper on Health and the Funding Options and this will include mass mobilisation if we see attempts to undermine the introduction of the NHI along the lines of the Mangaung resolution. We shall monitor the implementation of the re-engineering of the Primary Health Care. We will also mount a campaign to demand the in sourcing of outsourced services in the health sector. We shall campaign against the use of Public-Private-Partnerships and also shall ensure that the NHI Fund is ring-fenced so that it is not used for PPP's in the implementation of the pilot sites. Education The union structures in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces will work to influence the development of the two universities including curriculum (PQM) choices, employment practices and governance. The union shall also develop draft responses to the proposed undergraduate curriculum reform and a union's position paper on skills development - using COSATU position paper as a guide. The union will continue to engage with the Department of Higher Education and Training to try and resolve the numerous challenges strangling the FETC sector. We find it alarming that out of 50 FET colleges in the country about 20 of them are under administration. The union shall campaign for the total transformation of the FET colleges' curriculum and the strengthening of quality assurance systems in the sector. We expect these institutions to be an alternative to universities but for that to happen they should be given enough resources so that they can provide quality learning and training to students. We are happy that there is progress in the process of transferring the FET workers to the public service and we demand that they be paid attractive and competitive salaries in order to retain and attract those who are highly skilled. We will continuously engage with the DHET to ensure that the FET Turnaround Strategy responds to our call for transformation in the FET sector. International NEHAWU condemns the joint war games done by the South African army and the US army in the Eastern Cape in early August. We oppose the war games on the grounds that the imperialist Americans have been a source of instability in the world and have politically and economically destabilised a lot of nations. They have a neo-colonial agenda that includes imposing their destructive IMF-World Bank economic reforms through war. The NEC expressed concern over the decision by RENAMO to unilaterally end the 1992 ceasefire accord in Mozambique. This is a troubling development and needs to be investigated by African and international bodies to find out the reasons for this extraordinary action and also to ensure that there are no outside forces that are encouraging or fuelling this instability. The union will continue to intensify our international solidarity work with Cuba in defence of the Cuban revolution, against US imperialism and to assert the country's sovereign right to pursue an independent path of social, political and economic development. We will continue to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Ramon, Fernando, Antonio and Gerardo from US prisons and will continue our monthly demonstrations at the American embassy. The NEC demands an end to the Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and calls for the removal of all settlements from the Palestinian lands which Israel seized after 1967. We condemn Morocco's refusal to implement the referendum on self determination in Western Sahara and the ongoing human rights violations in the occupied territories. We will continue to promote and keep the struggle for the freedom of Western Sahara on the international agenda working with COSATU and the alliance partners. We support the ongoing struggles for freedom in Swaziland, Basque and other countries around the world. Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat Office For further information, please contact NEHAWU General Secretary Fikile Majola, 082 455 1751 or Sizwe Pamla (NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer) at 011 833 2902 -082 558 5962 or email: [email protected] Visit NEHAWU website: www.nehawu.org.za -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
<<image001.jpg>>
