Scrap the Cosatu Locals!
Cosatu Local Chairperson of the Katlehong local and Numsa shop steward and REC delegate, Peter Thobejane, has a contentious view. He says that Cosatu Locals have collapsed and because of this they should just be scrapped, their job should be done by Regional Shop Steward Councils. Read his views and respond to him in the next Numsa Bulletin.
During the transition from post-apartheid to democracy, Cosatu locals were vibrant and strong. But in the past few years, they have declined due to non-attendance of shop stewards.
Often votes can't take place because the local shop steward council (LSSC) doesn't form a quorum.
"LSSC are boring because they are discussing things like minutes, matters arising from the previous meeting," said one shop steward.
We have tried on a number of occasions to visit affiliate locals as part of our local office bearers programme to encourage shop stewards to attend in large numbers. Our visits did not help in terms of improving the attendance.
It then became more difficult for Local Office Bearers (LOBs) to manage the local, take the campaigns and congress resolutions forward.
We need to link some of our policies with the current changes in our country. The clause of the Local Executive Committee (LEC) was inserted into the Cosatu constitution to strengthen these Locals. Numsa sponsored that resolution.
But that did not help because other affiliates are saying the LEC is a duplication of LOBs. I think the clause dealing with Locals should be deleted from the Constitution and instead Regional Shop Steward Councils should be given these powers.
Source
Numsa News