LABOUR
Cosatu celebrates 20 years
Posted Fri, 02 Dec 2005
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) began its
20th birthday celebrations in Durban on Thursday.
The trade union federation was formed at a colourful mass rally
at Durban's Kings Park stadium in 1985, with Elijah Barayi its
first president.
Now with about 1.8 million members and 23 affiliates, its
formation took four years and united a number of union bodies,
providing a strengthened platform to lobby for workers rights and
to resist the extreme racism and oppression that characterised the
time.
"We represent everybody now," spokesperson Paul Notyhawa told Sapa.
"Construction workers, actors, playwrights, poets, doctors,
nurses..."
The four days of celebrations, to be held at Durban's exhibition
centre, will include cultural groups, a World Aids Day candle
lighting ceremony, addresses by leaders including its general
secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, its alliance partner, the SA Communist
Party's Blade Nzimande, founding general secretary Jay
Naidoo, and
current president Willie Madisha.
African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma, whom
Cosatu has rallied around since being indicted on corruption
charges, will deliver a solidarity message on Sunday.
Paying tribute, Vavi said on the movement's website that until
around the late 70s black workers were not allowed to form or
belong to trade unions and racially mixed trade unions were not
tolerated.
"Thus Cosatu's formation marked a qualitative leap forward in
the struggle to build democratic trade unions and tilting the
balance of forces to deal with the extreme levels of exploitation
of workers."
At the time, launch chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa referred to it as
"a giant that has risen".
Its brand of trade unionism was a link between political and
economic struggles.
"From the onset, Cosatu always understood the link between
struggles at the point of production and political power."
As a "transformative" body, it had built
and contributed to the
emergence of strong unions and could boast being a home to all
workers from blue-collar workers to professionals.
It was actively involved in the formation of economic policy and
also provided a basic school of politics, economics and
organisation for its members and shop stewards
"Everything I know, I learnt from the struggles of workers and I
am just one example of many cadres," Vavi said.
It was important that Cosatu adapted to changing conditions and
ensured that the second decade of democracy benefited workers and
rural poor the most.
Although there were women in leadership positions in the union
moment, it must also redouble its efforts and encourage women's
leadership and empowerment.
He urged members to build on the alliance with the African
National Congress and the SA Communist Party.
"Not only have we developed a vibrant trade union movement, we
have defied both the employers and the apartheid state. Today,
we
have one of the finest trade union movements in the world,
respected and revered by both friends and foes," Vavi said.
The celebrations come at the same time at the planned launch of
a rival labour federation by the Federation of Unions of SA, the
National Council of Trade Unions and the Confederation of South
African Workers Unions.
Sapa
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