Gomomo Tribute

What people say about Phumzile John Gomomo

"Gomomo had great courage, particularly under fire. He was tough and strong, but also very kind and sensitive to the needs of the metalworkers' membership.

He was militant and not just for show….he knew when to put people's futures on the line and when not to.

"His memory will live on because of all he achieved for South African metalworkers and for all of South African workers….indeed, for all of the world's workers.Don Stillman(retired International Affairs Director of the US United Auto Workers UAW 1982-2004 Washington,DC)

It is a loss of a warm hearted person and committed trade unionist for the workers he represented through his whole life. Working with Volkswagen SA in his hometown Uitenhage brought him into contact with Germany in various ways.

His commitment towards his fellow workers combined with his extraordinary personality brought him to high ranks of the trade union movement in South Africa. He never forgot his roots.

He was a true internationalist and even people at Volkswagen were convinced that his work included their interests as well.Peter Senft Head of Labour and Social Affairs, German Embassy

The solidarity activities of our Intersoli Group, with John and the NUMSA, began at the time when he was a shop steward at Volkswagen. He dedicated himself as workers' representative to organise them at their workplace, tofight together at international level with the trade unions from Germany, Mexico and Brazil. Frank PattaPresident of IG Metall Wolfsburg

We dip our flags in honour of one of the greatest leaders of the South African workers, who devoted his entire life to their service and will be forever remembered as a hero of the struggle for freedom, democracy and workers’ rights. The mighty workers’ movement we see today would never have been built without the dedication, commitment and hard work of people like John Gomomo.Cosatu

A tribute to a metalworker and a servant of the people – Phumzile John GomomoDecember 16 1946 – January 22 2008

If workers and trade union members want to reach the pinnacle of trade unionism, then they would do well to follow the path of Phumzile John Gomomo who died on January 22 2008.

Gomomo started working at Volkswagen in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape in the 1960s. At that time it was illegal for African workers to join trade unions. Racism was rife, white foremen had the power to hire and fire at will. And there wasn't just racism between white and black.

Even between coloured and African there were divisions reinforced by an apartheid state that gave marginal benefits to coloureds over Africans in the workplace and deprived Africans of skills.

One time VW shop steward and president of the National Automobile and Allied Workers Union (Naawu) in the 1970s, Jurie Harris, remembers how they "struggled to get Gomomo into the trade union initially. We targeted him. He was the main person to bring African members on board.”

UnifierBut it was Gomomo's ability to bring together different racial groups with different politics, that Daniel Dube, Numsa's first president elected in 1987 remembers. “Some African workers supported Matanzima and the homelands policy, many coloureds supported the apartheid government's tri-cameral policy.

He made them focus on the power that they have inside the factory irrespective of their different skin colours. By focusing on the improvement of their basic working conditions inside the factory, these improved conditions would spill over to their social set-up.”

The power of this unity was evident in breakthroughs that were made at VW. In 1980 there was a “complete shutdown in Uitenhage during the (living wage) campaign for R2 per hour,” Les Kettledas, a Naawu official at the time remembers.

International linksBecause VW was a multinational with its headquarters in Germany, Gomomo started to play a strong leadership role and linked with the VW works council in Gothenburg and Wolfsburg where the main VW factory was, as well as other cities in Germany.

As international links were strengthened, he learned first hand the importance of strong worker to worker contact across continents and countries.

Gomomo was the public face of South African workers at German metal union, IG Metall, and of course Volkswagen in particular,” says researcher Chris Bolsmann.

His relationship with German activists, unionists, officials and Works Council members was crucial in ensuring the Uitenhage plant and apartheid more generally remained an important focus in German circles.”

Beyond the factory floorBut Gomomo was not a 'clock card' shop steward. His concerns for his members stretched beyond the factory floor.

At a time when community activism could invite attacks from both left and right, he was involved with community struggles.

He helped to ensure that organised workers took up community complaints and used workplace pressure, even strikes in some instances, to put pressure on workers' companies to put pressure on local government to resolve the problems," says Dube. "And in communities he, with others, encouraged the formation of street and area committees to strengthen democracy within the community."

Personal sacrificesFor all these efforts he suffered personally. His house was petrol bombed and he narrowly escaped injury.

Such was fellow VW workers' concern and respect for their leader that “they took it upon themselves to protect Gomomo – they would sleep inside his yard night after night,” remembers Dube.And when the security police tried to detain him, they came up against the might of VW workers.

If Gomomo was detained early in the morning “by 9am the whole of VW had stopped work and were marching to security police offices in Uitenhage,” says Dube.

Workers would threaten VW management that they would only resume work once he was released. “And now VW was under pressure because the German head office would not allow the factory to stand still because of anti-apartheid pressure on German companies!" So by 12 midday he would be released. “No other leader in Uitenhage ever enjoyed that kind of support!”As vice president of Naawu he played a leading role in the unity talks that resulted in the formation of Cosatu in 1985 and Numsa in 1987. Gomomo was a living example of worker control and democracy.

His commitment to these principles was to be tested during the mid-1990s when Cosatu became part of the tri-partite alliance. It had to deal with new government policies like its new economic policy GEAR.

This promised growth and employment. But Cosatu was wary and this elicited Cosatu president Gomomo's famous response – to workers GEAR meant putting the economy into 'reverse GEAR!'

FearlessEven when he was elected to parliament on an ANC ticket in 1999, “he would take on the ANC leadership from the president right down to the ministers when issues weren’t addressed properly," says Danny Oliphant, one time Numsa vice president and now ANC MP.But for all this fame, “he was a humble man,” remembers Dube.

When all the Cosatu leaders were being chosen to go to the new democratic parliament in 1994, “he never said to Mandela, 'I was president of Cosatu, I want to be in the Cabinet'", echoes Shilowa. Numsa salutes Phumzile John Gomomo – worker, community activist and leader. We thank his family for the sacrifices they made for him to serve the working class. Jenny Grice

Let's honour Numsa members while they are still alive!As another founding stalwart dies, let's think hard on what the son of Calvin Mabaso has to say about the death of his father and others like him:

I would like to express my feelings to Numsa members. Lets honour them while they're still alive. I'm referring to the article on Enock Mabaso that appeared in Numsa News No 5 September 2007.

He served two terms as the Mawu president and is known for his dedication to making life easier for workers who were constantly being exploited. As the son of Enock, it was great to hear that my dad played a vital role in the upliftment of black workers who were exploited by apartheid.

It came as a surprise to me because we didn't know about all those achievements of my dad. I personally feel that he worked hard to make workers aware of their rights, so let's make sure that we keep this in the archives for future generations.

I have learnt so many things from Enock and it was a loss for us as the family as well as the nation.Let's keep the spirit burning for the late Numsa leaders!Calvin Mabaso

A Tribute to John Gomomo – a leader in Volkswagen

Iinkwenkwezi ziyafana ngemibala kodwa zahluke ngobuqaqawuli bazo. Gomomo was a natural born leader.

He was an organic intellectual schooled by concrete realities and conditions on the ground. He was humble and down to earth and always prioritized the workers.

He was the jewel in our crown.It is sad to notice that izisele zenyathi are leaving us. Leaders from whom we are supposed to draw inspiration when we are visited by misfortune in our organisations are leaving us behind.

The majority of those that are left are emotional, intolerant of different views, resort to labelling and blackmailing when engaged in robust debates; and rely on patronage in order to sustain their leadership positions.

When I started working at Volkswagen in 1994 he was already the president of Cosatu and a VW full-time shop steward.

In 1995 in a general meeting Numsa members at Volkswagen demanded that all shopstewards must step down.

There was a campaign in the plant that he must not be re-elected as a shopsteward because he was serving Cosatu head office and not his constituency at plant level.

Patient and resilientThey called him names, 'he is an impimpi of BK Smith (VW management), ngomso uliHobe, ngomsonye uyiNgwenya, uyinkokheli'.

But throughout the process Gomomo remained resilient, patiently engaging comrades constructively.

He did not lose focus because he knew the challenges which go with a leadership position. He did not declare those who differed with him as his enemy.

He did not develop a permanent struggle to deal with them.He always knew that as a leader he would be falsely accused by the very same members who had elected him, by the very same leaders whom he worked with.

But he held on and absorbed the pressure. Throughout this process, he accumulated a lot of experience. He became a politically mature comrade, a time-tested revolutionary, an embodiment of the Alliance.

PJ did all this and continued to maintain tolerance for his detractors and a healthy scorn for his enemies.

A strategiesHis experience in understanding the politics and challenges of the workplace, combined with the experience he gained nationally and internationally, was misunderstood by many workers at plant level.

He became a threat to some of his colleagues in the shopsteward committee. He was able to see and identify dangers to the workers two years before they could happen.

He would always advise that as workers we change iintonga zethu size nekorholo emfutshane because management is aware of our strategy or plan.

He was consistent in saying that we can not use strategies of the 1970s to address 1997 challenges.

On the other side his colleagues wanted to retain militancy and confine Numsa to a bread and butter union and wanted to remain politically correct to the workers.

He was not afraid to stand in front of the members and communicate decisions of the organisation even if they were against the wishes of membership or would make him unpopular with membership.

He pushed for strategic unionism, where the role of Cosatu was to be concerned with broader social and political issues as well as the immediate needs of its members.

He believed that the Union is a social force for transformation. It was important for the Union to remain committed to worker control and democracy, it must maintain its character as the movement and move with the challenges of the time.

But workers continued to be confused about this role.In 2003, when Volkswagen was celebrating its 50 years anniversary he was invited by management to address the gathering.

He advocated that the role of the union is to be proactive and effective. It must be able to monitor complex agreements with government and employers.

It must be able to make important contributions to national and economic and social development. Workers lamented that he did not speak like a unionist, because he was factual in articulating the new challenges of the labour movement.

What he warned us about in 2003 and before is currently happening in the company: there are temporary employees on long term contracts, there are retrenchments, there is short time, there is inflation targeting and there is no massive employment.

Negotiator and problem solverPJ was a good negotiator and a problem solver. Even though he spent most of his time in Johannesburg at Cosatu he always prioritized Numsa work at plant level.

He was more efficient than leaders in Port Elizabeth who took ages to intervene on critical issues in the plant.

All his life he did not want to see workers losing their jobs due to illegal strikes. During those days illegal strikes were the order of the day in VW.I remember Numsa President Mtutuzeli Tom in one of the meetings that he addressed where once more we were on an illegal strike he said in Xhosa that:'Xa uxabana neqabane okanye isinqandamathe sakho endlini usoloko ukhupha induku yakho ukusombulula ingxaki lenduku izakude iqheleke apha endlini ingabi nasidima nokuba sele usithi ndizakubethe ungahoywa ngoba akusoyikeki iqhelekile kaloku induku ngoku kanti xa uyikhupha ngamaxesha athile isidima sayo siyagcinakala.

He first took plant level negotiations to provincial level in the structure called the Eastern Cape Industrial Council where only General Motors, VWSA and Ford were parties.

Later he helped found the National Bargaining Forum (NBF) where Numsa and auto employers negotiate every three years.

When the employer locked workers out for eight days due to an illegal strike, he led the negotiations with the company.

He demanded that workers be paid four days out of that eight days. But the human resources manager, BK Smith, told workers to 'go to hell'.

Gomomo responded by saying 'we will meet in hell!'. Workers with the help of Numsa lawyers returned to work with eight days pay, but only for Numsa members. After that every worker joined Numsa!

DisciplinedHe was also a disciplinarian. He once he led a delegation of Numsa shopstewards to Germany. Some shopstewards were overwhelmed by the international trip.

They went berserk and misbehaved by drinking a lot and not attending meetings. PJ and other shopstewards sent those shopstewards back home.

They instructed them to report to members the reasons for them to come back early. However they failed to do that.

When the rest of the shop stewards returned and found out, they requested the same shopstewards to write a report and present it to the membership. But those shopstewards ran away.

So Gomomo and the other shop stewards reported to the members about their misbehavior. In 1997/8 there was an instability problem in the plant due to a particular medical aid.

Some shopstewards became consultants or the mouth piece of this medical aid. Every shopsteward wanted to serve in the medical aid committee.

It was seen as a gravy train by shop stewards.This led to workers wanting to embark on an illegal strike demanding that their money be refunded.

The company threatened to close down all medical aids. But Gomomo resolved the issue by suggesting that equal refunds be paid to every worker regardless of whether a member had exhausted the benefits or not and that Numsa and the company must investigate the possibility of establishing an in-house medical aid.

This investigation is still ongoing. PJ lived, not because he could breathe He did not live, because blood flowed through his veinsPJ lived, because he surrendered his very being to the peoplePJ had a vision and a purpose in lifePJ ceased to be himself and became the parapet of the peopleWhile Cosatu lives While Numsa lives PJ cannot die

Xolani TshayanaTshayana is Numsa's Education and Training Officer at Volkswagen

Source

Numsa News