Numsa’s special mini National Congress of almost 400 delegates held in September this year debated outstanding items referred to it by last year’s National Congress.
The major business of the congress was to debate amendments to Numsa’s constitution.But other important decisions were also made. Read below.
New resolutions of the Mini National Congress
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Numsa officials can stand as councillors in local government elections. If they become part-time councillors they can retain their positions in Numsa. If they are elected full-time, they must resign from Numsa immediately. Numsa will review this decision over time to see how their involvement in the council impacts on their union work.
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Numsa will actively support Cosatu’s “˜Pick up the Gains’ Campaign that is aimed at enhancing workers’ rights and defending the gains made.
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Black economic empowerment in its present form is not cascading down to all intended beneficiaries. Numsa must investigate “new forms of meaningful economic transformation to ensure that workers are not reduced to shareholders on paper with no meaningful participation in the operation of our workplaces.”
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Numsa notes with contempt calls from the Freedom Front and the Democratic Alliance for the repeal of the Employment Equity Act. “We will not allow the gains that we have fought for to be eroded and undermined by persistent acts of racism.”
Issues referred to Numsa’s December Central Committee (CC):
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The Numsa CC will come up with a campaign around losing the Fry’s Metals case. This campaign will encourage Cosatu to set up a committee to share experiences of judgments across all unions. This judgment has undermined the Labour Relations Act and employers’ duty to bargain.
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The CC will discuss the implications of setting up a solidarity fund contributed to by employed union members for the benefit of the unemployed.
New constitutional decisions:These are the most important constitutional changes for members:
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your shop steward MUST call factory general meetings at least once per month
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if workers are unhappy about their shop steward:- 30% of the paid up members employed in the workplace or section of the workplace that the shop steward represents must sign a petition calling for his/her removal AND- these members must explain why they want their shop steward removed.
I-Mini NCIngqungquthela Kazwelonke encane yekhethelo yeNumsa eyayibanjwe ngoSepthemba kulo nyaka kwenziwa izinqumo ezintsha:
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amagosa enu kufanele abambe imihlangano ejwayelekile yefemu bezonethulela imibiko futhi bezokuzwa nezikhalazo zenu okungenani kanye ngenyanga.
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Uma ungenelisekile ngegosa lakho, u-30% walabo abasegatsheni lakhe kufanele basayine uhlu lwamagama acela ukuthi asuswe esikhundleni nokuthi kufanele usho ukuthi kungani ufuna ukuthi asuswe
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Abasebenzi beNumsa bangalungenela ukhetho njengamakhansela okhethweni loHulumeni basekhaya. Uma bekhethwe ngokugcwele, kufanele besule emsebenzini ngokushesha. Labo abangasebenzi ngokugcwele bangaqhubeka njengabasebenzi beNumsa kodwa ukusebenzela kwabo inyunyana yabo kuyoqashwa.
Mini-NK Numsa se spesiale mini-Nasionale Kongres wat in September vanjaar gehou is, het nuwe besluite geneem. Van nou af:
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moet vloerbeamptes ten minste een keer per maand algemene vergaderings op die fabrieksvloer hou om aan julle terug te rapporteer en om julle klagtes aan te hoor.
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indien julle nie tevrede is met julle vloerbeampte nie, dan moet 30% van diegene in daardie vloerbeampte se kiesafdeling “˜n petisie onderteken waarin gevra word dat hy/sy verwyder word, en julle moet ook síª hoekom julle hom/haar verwyder wil híª.
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amptenare van Numsa kan in die plaaslike regeringsverkiesings as raadslede staan. As hulle voltyds verkies word, moet hulle onmiddellik bedank. Deeltydse raadslede kan aanbly as Numsa-amptenare, maar hulle werkverrigting vir die vakunie sal gemonitor word.
Khonkrese ya Naha e Nyenyane Khonkrese ya Naha e nyenyane ya Numsa e ileng ya tshwarwa ka Loetse selemong sena e ile ya fihlela diqeto tse ntjha. Ho tloha jwale:
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di-shop steward tsa lona di lokela ho tshwara dikopano tse akaretsang tsa fekethering ho le tlalehela ditaba le ho mamela ditletlebo tsa lona bonyane hang ka kgwedi.
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ha o sa kgotsofala ka shop steward ya lona, 30% ya bao ba leng dibopehong tsa di-shop steward ba lokela ho saena phethishene e ipiletsang hore eo a tloswe, mme hape le lokela ho bolela hore ke ka baka lang le batlang hore a tloswe.
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Bahlanka ba Numsa ba ka kenela ho ba dikhaselara dikgethong tsa mmuso wa selehae (masepala). Ha ba ka kgethwa ho ba ditulong tsa dinako tsohle, ba lokela ho leboha mosebetsi wa Numsa ka potlako. Ba nakwana bona ba ka tswela pele ho ba bahlanka ba Numsa empa mosebetsi wa bona yunioneng o tla behwa leihlo.
Words from the past
Numsa veteran, Bernie Fanaroff, who was a founding member of the Metal and Allied Workers Union (Mawu) one of the unions that merged to form Numsa in 1987 was invited to speak at the Congress.This is how he responded to a question from the floor:How do we deal with those who went to model c schools? They make convening general meetings difficult.”Where are all the other workers?” he asked. “Not everyone went to model C schools. People come to meetings if they gain something from them. They don’t come if they are bored. “You need to assess at every factory, what are trade union issues, what are workers’ interests. Are they so happy that the union is solving their problems? Do they understand what their role is or do they just see the union as a bureaucracy that can solve their problems. “If you haven’t got issues for a meeting, go and find them!”If shop stewards don’t call [factory] general meetings what is to say that shop stewards are acting on behalf of workers. Members in factories can’t be well organised if they don’t know what the union is doing. Workers will be strong if they know how the constitution works.”It’s a bit like parliament. You elect your representative but then you don’t see him until the next elections and he has never reported back to you. “Numsa doesn’t work that way. You elect a person, that person has a right to know what is happening in his or her union and to have a voice in that.”