Pilane calls on NUM to avoid ‘a congress of slates’

Amid tight security and adherence to strict agreed voting rules, the 17th national congress of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Friday moved into the election of the union’s national office-bearers (NOBs), with delegates casting their votes until late afternoon – in what was expected to be a bruising battle, with all positions contested.

In terms of the agreed voting rules, delegates resolved to cast votes as regional blocks, with no cell phones allowed and the accreditation tag to the congress serving as a sufficient requirement in electing NOBs.

Speaking to The Citizen on the sidelines of the congress, Veteran trade unionist and former NUM deputy general secretary Archie Pilane, spoke of “a congress of slates” he said should be avoided.

Said Pilane: “While you may find this happening in the NUM and in any other unions, what is missing in the mass democratic movement is the need to transit from the struggle days to a democratic dispensation.

“We need to be talking about succession plans.

“The succession plan is the one that is going to alleviate this contestation every now and then – averting a situation where people come up with this slate, others with that slate.

“It becomes a congress of slates – no longer a congress of a particular programme of action in line with the mission and the vision of the union.”

Reflecting on the NUM congress, he said: “The quality of reports presented, fit the level of a congress we are attending.

“But, of concern is the manner in which delegates deal with debates.

“Debates have not been elevated to the level of maturity in focusing on the real issues due to tensions.

“It is time that the union separates policy issues from elections.

“We have recommended that there should be an elective congress, dealing with elections, with one or two resolutions.

“But you cannot deal with that issue, unless you have started from the ground level to take along membership and bring maturity in congresses, or any other structure and focus on issues.”

One of the critical issues the union and the country faced was the “just transition” – from high to low carbon emissions, with coal being at the centre of the debate.

“In this transition, social compact is key for all stakeholders.

“I think it is a threat, but at the same time a solution to environmental issues – so we need to strike a balance.

“As a trade union, one of the critical issues is job security – the reason workers joined the union.

“The second issue is on how you deal with collective bargaining in an environment where you have already compromised some of the issues as a result of the social compact.

“The other element is that it is a national issue – with a capacity to divide society, because you have environmentalists and you have the unemployed – making the issue important for the unions.

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“Unions should be central to the negotiations.

“We are now governing – we can no longer say it is ‘them and us’.

“We need to be able to influence those decisions within.

“It is unlike when the employers and the previous govts would not allow you to take part in the deliberations,” said Pilane.

He said: “One of the critical issues is that shop-stewards need to grapple with these issues.

“Training shop-stewards is very fundamental – to understand what we mean by social compact and what transitioning means.

“If we say there is going to be a benefit for the country – creating stability and a better economy to be able to grow – you may not be able to realise the jobs now, but in the long-term, you will be able to see those opportunities,

“But unfortunately, for you to be able to arrive at a particular goal, there must be sacrifices.

“And those sacrifices must not be at the expense of only of workers, but embrace everyone collectively – business, government and society

“We have seen coal determination in Germany.

“What is missing in South Africa is that we are not discussing a long-term.

“We are discussing short-term and that is why workers are angry, because all that they see are job losses.”

brians@citizen.co.za