AUGMENTED CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE STATEMENT
We, the representatives of our members coming from all the nine Provinces of the Republic Of South Africa gathered at Summer Place Hotel in Germiston Gauteng Province for two full days on 03 and 04 December 2016 for our first augmented CEC meeting also attended by all Union officials.
We are speaking with one united voice driven by our passion and commitment to build a strong, transparent, united, militant, credible and democratic worker controlled DETAWU.
The meeting took place under the revolutionary courageous theme “we are devoted in fighting the work places exploitation and injustices, we are fearless and determined”
Our meeting took place few days away from the Union’s one year anniversary and in recognition to this material fact we have taken a decision to organise a gala dinner to celebrate the short life of the Union and our achievements despite the Union Thin Financial base.
We sent our heartfelt condolences to the Cuban people as they mourn the untimed death of comrade Fidel Castro, their lose is our lose too. Cde Fidel Castro is irreplaceable in the struggle of the working class.
We were privileged to receive the President opening remarks, the Secretariat Report and the mind bottling political address from the convener of the New Federation comrade Zwelinzima Vavi on behalf of the interim leadership and the steering committee to share with us progress and developments in the new federation and unpack the meaning of the current political epoch to the working class and its implications.
All these presentations contributed immensely to guide our debates and shape our resolutions. We come here very mindful and conscious of the ongoing global economic crises, the growing unemployment and enormous political challenges facing our country and the fast declining of moral and ethical political leadership.
We are extremely perturbed by the growing tendencies to undermine the rule of law with all indications pointing to the direction of turning the country into a banana republic where the predictor elite decides on almost everything on our behalf.
We are fully aware and worried by the rising unemployment as per the recently released statistics and the rise of poverty which require a formidable trade Union movement and a united working class movement to overcome the local and global ongoing crises.
We know very well that political freedom without economic freedom is as good as nothing as it doesn’t change the life’s of the majority working class and the poor but continues to perpetuate the apartheid wage structure which remunerated people based on the colour of their skin as opposed to the amount of work done.
Therefore we declare that we shall continue to initiate and join any other campaigns and battles run by progressive forces that seek to advance the agenda of equal pay for equal work and join all struggles that seek to roll back the frontiers of poverty.
We resolve that despite our age and our size in organisational term we shall not be spectators on the side lines whilst the class struggle continues because we know that class struggle or any other struggle waits no one.
We will participate and be visible in all working class oriented struggles and join hand with all progressive forces who share the same objective as that of ours of refusing to see white monopoly capital consolidating the onslaught against the working class.
We shall fight side by side with all those who are opposed to the economic patens which are still biased towards white monopoly capital and perpetuate white supremacy and maintain the status quo.
We say down with the economic status quo down.
We know that until the radical economic transformation agenda meaningfully takes place capitalism shall forever gain momentum and not before we know we shall found ourselves having degenerated into an imperialist state.
We declare that we shall spare no efforts in fighting this battle in all the work places where we are organised and beyond.
From now going forward we shall work with all those who are calling for decisive action to end abusive practices particular labour brokers, casualization and exploitation of vulnerable workers including joining fights to root out corruption both in public and private sectors.
We declare that in the main we shall focus our energies to battles that seek to improve both living and working conditions of our members and fight for job security, we know that fighting low wages is central in our battles to address poverty and inequality. We declare that in the context of the shared common definition of service to members we shall do all possible within our means to improve all levels of service to members.
We committee that the Union in as much as possible will try to make resources available for proper trade Union Education directed at shop stewards and officials to empower the Union’s first line of defence including leaders. This shall be done in conjunction with the setas where we belong as we have started to build working relationships.
In line with our founding congress resolution to align ourselves with a progressive worker’s formations (federation) local and international as opposed to being an independent trade Union we are happy with the progress made so far as both applications with ITF and UNI Global Union are pending and we hope for the positive outcomes. To us international worker solidarity is sacrosanct.
To the local front we declare that after many considerations to our previous resolve and self-introspection we have taken a firm decision to affiliate, participate and work with the New Federation to be launched in March 2017.
We declare that all our comrades in the Union shall participate and make meaningful contribution towards the launch of the New Federation next year. We can’t wait any longer for a new fresh air, we are tired of the old medicine in a new bottle.
Despite our limited financial resources the meeting took a firm decision that we should begin making financial contributions on the work of the steering committee towards the launch of the New Federation.
Like we said at our founding National Congress again we restate our understanding that the strength of a Trade Union is on membership, Therefore we declare once more that we shall dedicate next year towards ensuring that we extend our Union to areas where workers are currently unorganised or belonging to any other trade union other than DETAWU.
We declare that we shall ensure that we continue to sustain and build momentum to grow the Union and strive to leave our footprints throughout the country. We shall work very hard to be a force to be reckoned in a short coming period.
We declare that we shall spare no efforts to ensure that we continue to launch and build Union structures in all Provinces to further give a concrete meaning to our character as a democratic and transparent Trade Union.
We fully support the fees must fall campaign as a legitimate working class struggle. We condemn all the acts of violence and any other illegal acts that have a potential to delegitimise such a noble working class struggle.
We are convinced that this struggle is in fact our struggle as parents as the direct victims of paying the exorbitant fees in the institution of higher learning.
Given our class character there is no way we cannot support a campaign that seeks to make high education accessible to all academically qualifying students and break the apartheid bearers and deracialise, decolonise and decommodify education in the high learning institutions of SA.
The secretariat report revealed insightful information and laid bare challenges facing the Union.
Therefore as the augmented CEC we declare that it is only through strong worker-controlled Union and unity that workers can consolidate their gains and further advance new gains.
We declare that we shall embark on an offensive concerted organisational drive to consolidate, strengthen and further democratise the Union. We are pleased that we emerge from this watershed meeting having reaffirmed our conviction that the formation of DETAWU was the correct thing to have happened in our life time.
We arrived here on Friday evening with different viewpoints on many issues and returning back to our Provinces and workplaces with an unshaken commitment to our Union having forged an unbreakable unity of purpose and a single minded focus on ensuring that DETAWU’s profile continues to grow and workers see DETAWU as a viable alternative.
We pledge to support all the resolutions adopted in this meeting as contained in the Secretariat Report and we shall play our role in ensuring that they are realised. The time to walk through the open doors is now and now is the time.
Amandla A luta continua
For further information please call the General Secretary Vusi Ntshangase at 011 338 9078 or 83 536 0547