ANC must act in South Africa's interests by stamping down on rising union action

Action by the ANC's alliance partners is on the increase, and unions are increasingly hijacking issues of national importance - such as the looming World Cup - to make self-seeking demands. The Cabinet must act in the interests of the rest of South Africa by acting now to put a stop to this.

Next year the wage negotiation period will fall just before the World Cup, and if the government does not draw a line in the sand now, there is a real risk that the World Cup will become the hostage of a very messy round of strikes and protests.

Some of the demands being made are legitimate, and the government must act promptly and efficiently, for example, to resolve the dispute over doctors' salaries - a matter which it has ignored for too long.

But the threat by taxi drivers to paralyse the transport system for the World Cup is a key example of the abuse by some unions of the power that they have to create crises for the rest of the country. The response of the government - to put the Bus Rapid Transit System implementation plans on hold - is a disturbing indication of the road ahead.

There are many other examples of strike action or other action based on entirely specious or bogus claims to legitimacy. These include:

• A protest at the Reserve Bank "in defence of the livelihoods of the workers and the poor".
• Mass action at Unisa by the Young Communist League demanding the resignation of UNISA Vice-Chancellor and Principal Barney Pityana, for reasons apparently driven by his political allegiance to Cope.
• The attempted application by COSATU and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to stop the sale of part of Vodacom to a foreign shareholder - had they succeeded, business confidence in South Africa would have plummeted.
• A threat of strike action by COSATU if there is no immediate implementation of a moratorium on outsourcing and the use of labour brokers.

Trade Unions are also backing unrealistic pay demands in various sectors, including coal and gold mining. In light of the global economic crisis these demands can only worsen the economic outlook for these industries and therefore worsen the situation for ordinary workers.

I'll be asking my colleague, Anchen Dreyer, to submit a question to the Minister of Public Service and Administration regarding the number of strikes affecting the public sector over the past three years; the demands made; the final agreement reached and the length of the strike.

Statement issued by Ena van Schalkwyk, MP, Democratic Alliance deputy shadow minister of public service and administration, June 1 2009

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