T Manuel: Mayday celebrations

1 May 2007

Chairperson
Distinguished Leaders of FEDUSA and NACTU
My brothers and sisters, the workers gathered here
Comrades and friends

I want to express my sincerest appreciation to the leadership collective of
FEDUSA and NACTU for the invitation to join with you in this great occasion
today.

Mayday, that annual opportunity to celebrate the many victories secured by
workers and that opportunity to confirm what parts of the workers struggle
remain, is so important a part of us. The fact that we now can celebrate this
on a public holiday is entirely by the way, Mayday and the concerns of working
people was in many respects one of the main motivators for the struggle for
democracy. For this reason we forced its celebration as a statement of beliefs,
long before the arrival of democracy.

So let us confirm that we are in this together, on the same side there is no
conflict between this government and workers we are one, we are of the same
stock and we must learn to push together and not pretend that we are
adversaries.

In advancing the struggle for democracy, there has been at least eight
different objectives that we raised in common with workers:
* to ensure that workers enjoy full democratic rights together with the rest of
our people, including the entrenchment of the rights to freedom of association
and collective bargaining,
* to create the possibility for the organised working class to participate in
the formulation of public policies that relate directly to its future,
* to ensure the sustained improvement of the standard of living and quality of
life of the workers,
* to reduce and eradicate unemployment in the context of a growing
economy,
* to end the disparities in wages and working conditions based on race, colour
and gender,
* to expand workers access to such benefits as health and safety at work,
unemployment insurance, general healthcare, a retirement income and maternity
and paternity leave,
* to raise the skills levels especially of workers drawn from the previously
oppressed sections of our population,
* to open the doors of culture and learning both to workers and their
children.

Now I suppose that we can all take out our clipboards and tick off the
achievements against these commitments and then say Hallelujah! But, that would
be so wrong, because it would be tantamount to declaring that the struggle is
won and over. Yet, that is an inherent risk of the present favourable
relationship between government and the trade union movement.

But in case you have forgotten long before Mayday was Workers' Day, it was a
pagan festival called Beltane, the Festival of Fire! (Today in the context of
worker's rights we can't even use that word!). But in the interests of the
festival of fire, let me put some fire in your bellies by sharing three areas
of work in need of desperate action.

First, there is the area of skills. As part of the Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) we have launched the Joint
Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) in order to boost the effort
to ensure that the economy can access the necessary skills in order to
accelerate the rate of economic growth. Of course we should celebrate the fact
that JIPSA is a joint response from organised labour, business and government
but that is only part of the story. The National Skills Act has vested the
responsibility more squarely with organised labour and business and we have to
take stock of the performance of our Sector Education and Training Authorities
(SETAs). In the last three years, the SETAs spent just over R12 billion and
this year the national skills fund will have R6,5 billion of which 80% will be
managed by the SETAs. Looking back over the last three years, we are compelled
to ask how much training and of what quality the SETAs delivered for R12
billion.

Now pause to consider the fact that 50% of board members on SETAs are drawn
directly from organised labour and then ask whether we are witnessing the
necessary diligence in oversight from those invested with the power. In fact, I
was recently quite badly affected when I learnt that some human resource
managers send blank pages to SETAs in lieu of training plans and then have the
SETA staff sign off on payments. I was affected because I am of the view that
the more we raise the skills of workers in this country, the easier it will be
to both secure employment and generate additional jobs. Those who claim for
training that has not taken place and those who sign off on blank training
plans, are stealing job security from our workers. We must end these practices.
So we must call on those who are deployed to represent the interests of workers
on the SETAs to exercise diligence and oversight.

The second matter I want to ask for renewed energy is in respect of pension
fund trusteeship. Every cent in a pension fund has already been earned by
workers but retained for retirement. Yet, we continue to learn of pension funds
being bankrupted, frequently by the greed of fund managers how does this happen
in an environment where as a victory of workers' struggles, 50% of trustees
must be representatives of the workers themselves? Or we observe that half of
workers who contribute to retirement funds reach retirement on a pension that
is less than 28% of their final wage. We have announced huge reforms to
retirement funds, including the introduction of a wage subsidy to ensure that
lower paid workers have an incentive to provide for their retirement. I am
pleased to announce that the discussions with the two federations participating
in this meeting, is proceeding apace. I am confident that we will have the
legislation in place by early 2009. But the risky period is in the present when
we have to fight complacence or a sense that legislation will prevent workers
from finding themselves in a poverty trap. The time for action is now, so I
want to once again plead with unions to ensure that the returns on that which
workers have already invested is maximised.

The third challenge before us is to ensure that we have a highly motivated,
competent and accountable public sector. This is an essential part of a
developmental state since it is the guarantee of improvements in the lives of
those who are most dependent on the State for resources. Here I want to make a
special appeal to the public sector unions. I accept that the relationship
between government, as employer and the unions as representatives of public
sector workers will be shaped from time to time by the reality of industrial
relations and wage bargaining. But if that is sum total of our relations then
we fail democracy. Public sector workers are amongst the elite of South
Africa's workers, it is to our distinguished officials that we look for advice
and when decisions have been taken, it is to the same officials that we look
for implementation. Because of the nature of our developmental challenge, we
must ask public sector workers for additional effort. It is simply not good
enough to hide behind all manner of excuses for laxity in the delivery of
public services, or to justify the laziness which denies the poor or to defend
workers whose corrupt actions have stolen services from those most in need.

In the interests of reconstruction and development this has to change. I am
not sure why this has happened, we should look to many experiences from around
the world, South Korea provides us with the most striking example.

Today it is one of the world's most technologically advanced countries but
it wasn't always that way. South Korean teachers, especially maths and science
teachers, put in an almost super-human effort to increase the maths and science
endowment of the nation. For years understanding that their skills were in
short supply they volunteered to teach double shifts in the interests of the
nation. The rapid advance in technology is a living tribute to their efforts.
Yet, South Korean workers remain highly organised and militant. So, the example
of reconstruction as an expression of militancy and as an investment in the
nation is there for all to see. Why should we not ask for at least the same
intensity of effort? And should the public sector unions themselves not be
leading the reinvigoration?

So let us celebrate this Mayday, indeed we have much cause for celebration.
But let us simultaneously recommit to full partnership. Let us ensure that
every worker knows that a well functioning democracy will greatly enrich their
lives but that this democracy is not an entitlement, it has to be worked for
and it has to be the product of deep and enduring partnerships.

A luta! Continua!

Thank you!

Issued by: National Treasury
1 May 2007
Source: National Treasury (http://www.treasury.gov.za/)