TO: THE EDITOR – BUSINESS DAY Email: busday@bdfm.co.za

We are on the road to seeing a new trade union umbrella body which will lead to the weakening of Cosatu but to probably more demands from the individual unions.  It also appears that this new umbrella body and Cosatu itself are moving away from the ANC which is good news for South African politics and for the South African government.

The unfortunate relationship between Cosatu and the ANC has led to an incredibly negative industrial relations arena which has to a large degree been governed by political aims as opposed to issues on the shop floor.  The real losers have been the citizens of South Africa.  Only now, 20 years later, do we see that the workers themselves are starting to question what the trade unions have been doing for them.

In the past thirty five years I have been practicing in the labour law arena and have noticed over the past five years how many individuals have approached me for help because their trade unions have been incredibly grossly negligent in prosecuting their claims for unfair dismissal and unfair labour practice.  It appears that the unions have lost sight of their real reason for existence and hopefully this turn of events might alert the union leadership to get back to their real reason for existence.

MICHAEL BAGRAIM

15 June 2015