By BENJAMIN FOGEL, The Daily Maverick
The second round of the strike has been a disaster - a major
display of weakness that could potentially set back the farmworkers' struggle
for years. Disempowering the emergent political agency that has resulted from
the unified action of farmworkers, wage negotiations are now to be conducted by
unions on a farm-by-farm basis, while also including the unrealistic temptation
of a profit-sharing scheme.
If the power and agency of the strikers arose from the
actions of the most brutalised and exploited segment of South Africa's working
class, the end of the strike marks a continuation of the same backroom union
politics that brought about the wildcat strikes on the mines of the North West.
Speaking with farmworkers across the Boland on Tuesday, both those who
participated in the strike and others who returned to work made it clear that
there was no consensus on the direction the strike should take or a
understanding between those appointed to negotiate in the name of the workers
and the workers themselves.
In the Robertson area, the majority of non-union workers
returned to their jobs, while members of unions such as CSAAWU (Commercial
Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allies Workers Union) continued the strike at the
Vink Rivier, Voorspoed, Wonderfontein and the La Collione farms. We found a
group of strikers hunkering down opposite the gas station near the entrance to
Robertson from the Worcester side. These workers had apparently been driven
from their picket line at the La Collione farm by the police; they claimed that
the farmer only pays them R65 a day. Three workers claimed to have been hit by
police rubber bullets. When questioned, police redirected our questions to a
superior, who, clutching his weapon, avoided giving us any answers to our
queries about the strike.
Wesley Booison, a CSAAWU shop steward interviewed at the
Voorspoed farm told us that the workers had been organised at the farm for
three years now, despite the hostility of the farm-owner and the meager R69 per
day wage they received. A week ago, this same farmer had charges laid against
him at the Robertson police station for allegedly threatening to shoot his
workers if they damaged his property. Workers picketing at the farm clutched
signs demanding R150 per day and claiming that “R150 was only a start” -
something we heard on Sunday at a rally in Ashton. It is interesting that the
most determined and politically aware workers we encountered in the region were
affiliated to the small independent CSAAWU union.
An hour's drive away, De Doorns once again appeared to be
both the core of the strike and the key political battle for whatever capital
can be extracted from the farmworkers strike. As local politicians and newly
discovered community leaders struggle for legitimacy, national politicians,
perennial camp followers of the struggle and union leaders seeking to rapidly
recruit new members. The strike's energy seemed to have dwindled somewhat by
noon as workers, fearing the loss of money needed for Christmas, returned to
their farms. Still, according to locals, around 6,000 workers remain on strike.
Those who did return to work were permanent workers rather than those employed
seasonally.
As in the Roberston-Ashton area, in De Doorns it was clear
that the majority of workers on strike were not ready to settle for anything
less than R150 per day, and that there was no clear process of accountability
between workers and their “representatives” at the negotiating table.
Assembled at the De Doorns stadium were over a thousand
workers. Most were waiting in the December heat for something to happen while
their compatriots had the good sense to stay at home. A small group entertained
themselves through an impromptu toyi-toyi and song session, while carrying
flags provided by Mario Wanza and a few of his new UDF comrades.
Yet the most shocking occurrence witnessed at the De Doorns
rally was a call made by one Sandile Kenny in full view of union leaders, for
PASSOP director Braam Hanekom to be killed on his return to the community.
This call was made after Sandile led the crowd in a
decidedly weak rendition of Kill the Boer, and at a podium shared with the
controversial former unionist, Nosey Pieterson, who now heads the Black
Association of Wine and Spirit Industry as well as BAWUSA.
Tony Ehrenreich of COSATU in the Western Cape arrived a bit
later; his speech, delivered at about noon, did not explicitly call for an end
to the strike or even engage with that possibility. Rather, it contained two
key themes:
a) a call for the workers to embrace's COSATU's particular
brand of unionism as the only way to protect their interests and
b) a call for workers to place their trust in the power and
wisdom of their representatives at the negotiating table who had the political
connections necessary to call in the appropriate cabinet ministers and to meet
with the farmer's representatives.
Both of these themes have emerged prominently in today's
deal, which may put an end to the strike and looks set to empower COSATU
affiliated unions in future negotiations at the expense of independent unions
like CSAAWU.
While it is clear that division among workers on the strike
has been growing and many thought it was more prudent to return to work than
take the risk of going back on an indefinite strike, the deal was imposed on
the farmworkers after an unaccountable process conducted in the name of
democracy. It further hampers the growth of a new democratic and active
political culture among workers in South Africa.
Instead of attempting to build a democratic trade union
movement, COSATU affiliates have been more concerned with politicking and
increasing their clout in rural areas. In the end the deal – unlike in Marikana
– removed actual farmworkers from the negotiating table or any other public
platform. This risks further perpetuation of the system of degradation and
exploitation that is endemic in the agricultural industry. In the area where
real problems exist and sobering differences are there for all to see, it
solved pretty much nothing.
