NUMSA’s highest decision- making body, the Central Committee, national preparatory committee and senior NUMSA officials held a national policy workshop from the 1st – 3rd September, 2006 in an intensive effort to finalise NUMSA’s policy positions and other matters pertaining to the forthcoming Cosatu Congress scheduled for next week.
The Workshop called for great vigilance on the extent to which the working class asserts its leadership role of the national democratic revolution. The giant metalworkers’ union leadership was also forthright in its attempts to ensure that representation of metalworkers and gender is enhanced.
The National Policy Workshop and Central Committee emphasized the following:
That all COSATU leaders should take bold steps and forge unity to ensure that leaders do not contribute to a false state of a permanent crisis in the federation, and consequently ensure that Cosatu was strengthened beyond the congress and that service to members is significantly improved.
Numsa will ensure that Congress focuses on the real and concrete issues that affect Cosatu members first and the working class in general.
The election of leadership is not the primary issue for us at the moment. When we meet with other affiliates as we will do on this question, the determinant factor will be the extent to which leadership elected will lead the Federation towards the realisation of the plans contained in the 2015 programme. Anything else about leadership is a secondary matter for us.
We call upon the rest of the affiliates to ensure that these issues as we have mentioned above, become the focus for the Congress.
The success of the Congress will not be determined by whom we elect but what Congress says Cosatu and affiliates should do to improve conditions of employment of our members and the contribution we should also make in the broader revolutionary struggles of the working class.
On managing tension within the Alliance:
The call was made on the Federation and affiliates leadership to be seized with the responsibility of how best to manage the succession and presidential race debate in the ANC. In this regard, the Numsa Central Committee agreed that Cosatu’s involvement in this debate must be guided by its own principles derived from its vision.
That the alliance partners should be allowed to grow and influence one another equally on all policy matters.
To ensure the alliance coordinate its activities and give leadership to social transformation in all spheres of society, including civil society and the state.
NUMSA wishes to reiterate that:
It will act and work together with the collective leadership of the Federation including its affiliates in this period to ensure that there is maximum unity and focus towards the real and concrete issues that affect the more than 2 million Cosatu members.
Secondly, NUMSA will go to the Congress to promote unity of the Federation and its Alliance partners.
NUMSA will ensure that the elected leadership in the Congress is not on the basis of any perceived faction, but on their ability to unite the Federation and take the 2015 program of the Federation forward.
The policy workshop spent time examining the consolidated draft COSATU resolutions. NUMSA is happy to note that the consolidated COSATU Resolutions are dealing with major social, economic and political implications, both for South Africa, and the world.
NUMSA Office Bearers expressed their appreciation that this Cosatu Congress is a watershed Congress in the history of the Federation because it is confronted with historic challenges. Congress will grapple with crucial organizational and political issues.
The Central Committee and Office Bearers noted that it was impossible for political dynamics in the country and in the Alliance not to find expression in the labour movement. This is as it should be. However, the Federation needs to guard against such political dynamics impacting negatively on the unity of the labour movement.
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