Tribute to the late Violet Seboni, 1965-2009
- Authors: South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union
- Date: 2009?
- Subjects: South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union , Labour unions -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , pamphlet
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/110537 , vital:33297
- Description: Violet Seboni was born on 18 September 1965. It was to be a turbulent start to life for this young girl who never got to know her father, in a story that started in sadness. And shortly after her birth, it was her mother too that she lost in circumstances that no one should experience. She knew pain and later in life she stood up for those in pain. Young Violet was raised by her grandmother for the first few years of her life, and when her grandmother died, it was her granny’s friend - in a culture where ubuntu requires that we reach out to others - who took on the responsibility to rear the young girl and to become her comforter, her provider, her mother. Violet went to primary school and later to Madibane High School in Diepkloof, where she developed a love for netball and a passion for activism. After high school, she became pregnant and her beloved daughter Lesego was born. She looked for work, and like generations of young, working- class women before her, she turned to the clothing industry, to use her hands, her dexterity and her skill to earn a living to feed her young family. The role the industry plays, to give work, bread and life to those in need, is in itself a reason not to let the industry die simply due to the cold, harsh winds of global competition and indifference or inaction from those who have the power to intervene, to use trade measures and to use industrial policy tools to save jobs and absorb our people into decent work opportunities. The industry that young Violet chose is one whose factories in Joburg grew with the discovery of minerals and the rapid growth of an urban population that needed to be clothed. Violet’s predecessors in the industry were white women sewing machinists, mainly Afrikaners, often the wives and daughters of the Afrikaner mineworkers who as 'by-woners', were like their black brethren, driven off the land and into the cities hungry for labour. Trade unionism took root among the male mineworkers - Die Mynwerkers Unie was their vehicle - and among female garment workers - through the Garment Workers Union. , A new growth path for decent work in the clothing, textile, footwear and leather industry
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- Date Issued: 2009?
Transport and General Workers Union: Newsletter May, 1988
- Authors: Transport and General Workers' Union (South Africa)
- Date: 1988-05
- Subjects: Labour unions -- South Africa , Transport workers -- Labour unions -- South Africa
- Language: eng
- Type: text , pamphlet
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/98181 , vital:31551
- Description: In April COSATU held a very important conference - their first Women's Conference. 12 TGWU women went to the conference and took part in the workshops on Women at Work, Women and Health and Safety, Women in the Unions, and Women in the Community. The conference put forward some important and new ideas for unions to act on.
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- Date Issued: 1988-05
Transport and General Workers Union: Newsletter January, 1988
- Authors: TGWU
- Date: 1988-01
- Subjects: Labour unions -- South Africa , Collective bargaining , Collective labour agreements , Transport workers -- Labour unions -- South Africa
- Language: eng
- Type: text , pamphlet
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/98154 , vital:31548
- Description: Drastic changes to Labour Relations Act: the government are trying to clip the wings of the union movement. There is a Labour Relations Amendment Bill in Parliament at the moment. If this bill becomes law this year, the labour movement will be very weak.
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- Date Issued: 1988-01
Transport and General Workers Union: Newsletter November, 1987
- Authors: Transport and General Workers' Union (South Africa)
- Date: 1987-09
- Subjects: Labour unions -- South Africa , Transport workers -- Labour unions -- South Africa
- Language: eng
- Type: text , pamphlet
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/98254 , vital:31559
- Description: On 12 November about 1000 security guards at South African Security Services in Springs went on strike. Workers were angry about the dismissal of 7 workers and management refused to meet the workers. So workers stopped work. Twice management told workers to report to work. Both times the bosses did not send transport. Then the bosses told workers to come to the head office. Workers went, the police arrived and arrested 10 shop stewards. The bosses tried to get workers to say that TGWU forced workers to strike. The director even tortured a shop steward with electric shocks to force him to sign a statement. The shop steward has laid a charge against the director for assault. The strike lasted 7 days then management took some workers back. Other workers were dismissed. We are now taking these union bashing bosses to the Industrial Court to reinstate workers.
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- Date Issued: 1987-09
Transport and General Workers Union: Newsletter September, 1987
- Authors: Transport and General Workers' Union (South Africa)
- Date: 1987-09
- Subjects: Labour unions -- South Africa , Transport workers -- Labour unions -- South Africa
- Language: eng
- Type: text , pamphlet
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/98243 , vital:31558
- Description: On 31 July the Town Clerk of Diepmeadow Council (Soweto) told 12 meter readers that a private company was taking over the meter reading section of the council. So meter readers were no longer employed by the council. At once 1,200 TGWU council workers went on strike and demanded the reinstatement of the 12 workers. The 12 workers were reinstated but the workers continued the strike demanding the dismissal of Noel Gaum, the Town Clerk. The council agreed to meet about Gaum so workers returned to work. But after the meeting Gaum was not dismissed. So workers struck for 2 more days. Workers, clerks, township managers and social workers were united in calling for Gaum's dismissal. Gaum worked before as town clerk in Lekoa and Tumahole Councils and was not liked. Diepmeadow workers outlined 37 grievances against Gaum. Some of these grievances are that Gaum is rascist, that he is rude to workers, that he never consults workers on anything, and that when the council was upgraded to a city council Gaum got a 20% salary increase but workers did not. In response to worker demands the Diepmeadow Council dismissed Gaum and gave workers the 20% increase they demanded.
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- Date Issued: 1987-09
Transport and General Workers Union: Newsletter June, 1987
- Authors: Transport and General Workers' Union (South Africa)
- Date: 1987-06
- Subjects: Labour unions -- South Africa , Transport workers -- Labour unions -- South Africa
- Language: eng
- Type: text , pamphlet
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/98196 , vital:31552
- Description: Impala Coach Tours: TGWU declared a dispute with Impala Coach Tours which runs buses from Jan Smuts Airport, and to Sun City. The dispute concerns Impala's refusal to recognise the union and the dismissal of a worker, Mr Ernest Nelwamando. Ernest was dismissed after a company mechanic hit him with an iron bar when Ernest reported that his bus had faulty gears. Ernest was off work for 3 days. When he returned to work he was hit again by the director's son and then dismissed. TGWU applied for a Conciliation Board, and referred the disputes to the Industrial Court. Workers have reported the company to the Dept, of Manpower as workers the company is operating outside the law around wages and other conditions of work.
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- Date Issued: 1987-06
Three important principles for trade unionism: unity, independence and democratic methods
- Date: 19--?
- Subjects: Labour unions -- South Africa , Quality of work life
- Language: English
- Type: text , pamphlet
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/111235 , vital:33418
- Description: The first principle of trade unionism is unity: the unity of workers, or put another way, solidarity, “one for all, all for one. With solid unity, many things can be achieved by the workers. Without unity, nothing of significance can be achieved by an individual worker. What this means in practice is: the organizational objective of a union is 100 percent membership.The strength and influence of a trade union in its relationship to employers depend on the extent the employees of the company concerned are unionized. The higher the proportion of unionized workers to non-unionized workers, the greater the strength. Apart from numbers, strength also come from organizing the key, skilled workers in the enterprise. Depending on what the basis of organization of the union is—whether it be craft occupation, a specific industry, an undertaking, a common employer or general labor —all workers should be united into one union, irrespective of race, religion, creed, sex, skill, etc. All are equal in the eyes of the organization. Trade unions should also operate nationally because local or regional unions cannot develop sufficient bargaining power or competence over a whole range of issues to adequately safeguard the interest of workers. Trade unions should not be considered as closed societies. They should not be an instrument of privileged or elite workers, jealously guarding member’s privileges against nonmember workers who receive lower wages and are unorganized. They should be open to all workers, otherwise, these same underprivileged workers could be used as scabs against organized workers in the event of a serious conflict. If an organization is to serve the needs of its members, it must be controlled by the members themselves, for who but they themselves can best define and guard their own interests? If a union intends to truly achieve the principles and objectives upon which it was founded, it should not allow itself to be dominated or controlled by external interests, be it government, employers, political parties, religious, communal or fraternal organizations, or individual persons. A government may or may not be well disposed to trade unions, but in general, it is very responsive to the interests of the powerful groups in society, usually the employers. Moreover, if a government can control the operation and policies of a trade union, it becomes an instrument of the government rather than of the workers for whom it was originally set up. There are cases where a so-called “union” is organized by the employer for the employees. This kind of union is a “yellow union” (company dominated union). It is dominated by the management or its stooges. It is usually a local union (or a one-shop union), which means that only employees of that undertaking are allowed to join it. Needless to say, this kind of union is totally useless because its basic purpose is not to promote the workers’ interest but to prevent them from setting up a genuine one. When management starts to pressure employees to join a local union, the signals are clear: it is a yellow union. Equally, the union should resist any attempt by any political party to control and dominate it. The interests of the political party are not necessarily the same as those of the union. Even if there are some areas of shared interests, the ultimate aim of a trade union is to serve its members. This aim may be distorted under the domination of a political party whose basic aim is to obtain support from all sectors to secure power.
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- Date Issued: 19--?
Wage negotiations workbook
- Authors: Workers' Education Project
- Date: 19--?
- Subjects: Labour unions -- South Africa , Wages , Employee fringe benefits -- South Africa , Collective bargaining -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , pamphlet
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/111129 , vital:33388
- Description: A house that is built on a weak foundation cannot stand. The same is true of a union that is entering the negotiations. A union's foundations for effective and successful bargaining must be built a long time before the negotiations with the employer begins. Many unions fight hard to gain recognition with employers; and then fail miserably in negotiations because they did not make even the simplest basic preparations.
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- Date Issued: 19--?