Trade unions at a crossroads

NAMIBIA’S labour movement – especially the Swapo-affiliated NUNW – is at a political crossroads and risks losing its role as an agent of social change unless it can resolve its internal leadership crisis and find its true ideological voice again, a labour expert has warned.

“Trade unions had to realise that the changes after Independence did not lead to a fundamental socio-economic transformation. Instead, the process of reform did not alter the economic power structures which determine the distribution of wealth and income,” Herbert Jauch of the NGO Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI) said at a public lecture at the University of Namibia (Unam) at the end of last week.Jauch analysed how union membership in real terms had in effect declined sharply since 1990.In hindsight, the historical alignment between Swapo and the NUNW appeared to contain both the seeds of its creation and destruction as private interest and a lack of accountability led to a crisis as never seen before in Namibian organised labour, he argued.For one, the number of employees in mining and manufacturing suffered the sharpest declines – a typical trend in neo-colonial countries, Jauch noted – while jobs in the tourism and real-estate service industries increased by 157 and 94 per cent respectively.While legislative reform started off vigourously with the Labour Act (1992), the Social Security Act (1994) and the Affirmative Action (Employment) Act (1998), the Government has increasingly simply pushed its privatisation and “commercialisation” policies through in spite of grassroots opposition.The once-mighty Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), which represented 83 per cent of workers employed in this sector, had lost nearly 3 000 jobs as union opposition to privatisation or “commercialisation” faded in the face of boardroom positions for leaders.Where the former union leadership – which included John Pandeni, Petrus Iilonga, Ben Ulenga and others – once were the strongest voices for reform, they had now all but disappeared, having been co-opted financially or politically, he said.While this was done for all the right political reasons initially, the result had been that the unions had lost their power and risked further political fragmentation to become like Mauritius where, in a population of 1 million people, there were now 300 workers’ unions.The thin edge of the wedge, Jauch suggested, was the decision to allow elected leaders to serve as paid company directors but supposedly representing workers’ interests and protecting jobs instead of profits.This contradictory position had undermined all accountability in the unions, and had been characterised by wildcat strikes that sporadically flared in all sectors.A prime example of how this could go wrong was in the case of Ongopolo Mining, where workers now faced an uncertain future because of a forced sale of the mining company to foreign interests to stave off bankruptcy, he said.”Statements and practices of several trade unions reveal a deep-seated ideological confusion: Sentiments of radical nationalism and liberation are mixed with acceptance of neo-liberalism as the ideology of the ‘free market’,” he said.There had also been an increasing lack of accountability within unions, with their leaders often taking decisions and cutting deals without consulting with their members, he said.This, together with the political splits that reflected the larger leadership crisis in Swapo, left the union in a position where it either had to re-invent itself or re-commit to effective worker representation.The alternative was a situation where unions become focused only on narrow sector-based interests, losing their mass base while getting embroiled in party-political struggles and their leaders using them as political springboards for personal advancement only, he warned.John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587Instead, the process of reform did not alter the economic power structures which determine the distribution of wealth and income,” Herbert Jauch of the NGO Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI) said at a public lecture at the University of Namibia (Unam) at the end of last week.Jauch analysed how union membership in real terms had in effect declined sharply since 1990.In hindsight, the historical alignment between Swapo and the NUNW appeared to contain both the seeds of its creation and destruction as private interest and a lack of accountability led to a crisis as never seen before in Namibian organised labour, he argued.For one, the number of employees in mining and manufacturing suffered the sharpest declines – a typical trend in neo-colonial countries, Jauch noted – while jobs in the tourism and real-estate service industries increased by 157 and 94 per cent respectively.While legislative reform started off vigourously with the Labour Act (1992), the Social Security Act (1994) and the Affirmative Action (Employment) Act (1998), the Government has increasingly simply pushed its privatisation and “commercialisation” policies through in spite of grassroots opposition.The once-mighty Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), which represented 83 per cent of workers employed in this sector, had lost nearly 3 000 jobs as union opposition to privatisation or “commercialisation” faded in the face of boardroom positions for leaders.Where the former union leadership – which included John Pandeni, Petrus Iilonga, Ben Ulenga and others – once were the strongest voices for reform, they had now all but disappeared, having been co-opted financially or politically, he said.While this was done for all the right political reasons initially, the result had been that the unions had lost their power and risked further political fragmentation to become like Mauritius where, in a population of 1 million people, there were now 300 workers’ unions.The thin edge of the wedge, Jauch suggested, was the decision to allow elected leaders to serve as paid company directors but supposedly representing workers’ interests and protecting jobs instead of profits.This contradictory position had undermined all accountability in the unions, and had been characterised by wildcat strikes that sporadically flared in all sectors.A prime example of how this could go wrong was in the case of Ongopolo Mining, where workers now faced an uncertain future because of a forced sale of the mining company to foreign interests to stave off bankruptcy, he said.”Statements and practices of several trade unions reveal a deep-seated ideological confusion: Sentiments of radical nationalism and liberation are mixed with acceptance of neo-liberalism as the ideology of the ‘free market’,” he said.There had also been an increasing lack of accountability within unions, with their leaders often taking decisions and cutting deals without consulting with their members, he said.This, together with the political splits that reflected the larger leadership crisis in Swapo, left the union in a position where it either had to re-invent itself or re-commit to effective worker representation.The alternative was a situation where unions become focused only on narrow sector-based interests, losing their mass base while getting embroiled in party-political struggles and their leaders using them as political springboards for personal advancement only, he warned.John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587