Johann Maree

Worker participation in decision-making: Who benefits?

Abstract This article examines the benefits that derive from worker participation in decision-making (WPD) in enterprises and explores the question of who benefits from such participation. It does so by summarising the findings of three major surveys on WPD and one in-depth study of a fresh fish processing factory. It concludes that WPD leads to greater job satisfaction and increased worker morale in roughly two-thirds of the cases and to improved production performance in about one-third of the cases From the indepth case study it shows that not all stakeholders necessarily benefit from WPD in that fish workers did not benefit materially from improved performance at the factory. The article demonstrates that it is not always workers who do not benefit from WPD and identifies some conditions required to ensure that all stakeholders do benefit from WPD.

Democracy and oligarchy in trade unions: The independent trade unions in the Transvaal and the Western province general workers’ union in the 1970s

The aim of this paper is to examine democracy and oligarchy in the independent trade unions in the Transvaal and the Western Province General Workers Union in the 1970s. The unions considered in the Transvaal comprise the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSA TU) and the Consultative Committee of Black Trade Unions. The Consultative unions consisted of the Commercial Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (CCA WUSA) and a large proportion of the present Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA). This study covers the period from the foundation of the unions in the early 1970s to the second half of 1979 for the Transvaal unions and to the end of 1980 for the Western Province General Workers’ Union. It is divided into two major sections. The first deals with theories of democracy and oligarchy in trade unions by considering Michels’ iron law of oligarchy. His iron law is evaluated in the light of two centuries of experience in the British trade unions as analysed mainly by the Webbs, Clegg and Hyman. Af...

Rebels with Causes: White Officials in Black Trade Unions in South Africa, 1973-94 A Response to Sakhela Buhlungu

This article argues that white officials in black trade unions in South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s were rebels with numerous causes. These causes were to help build a democratic and powerful black trade union movement, to work towards social and economic justice, and to secure their own long-term future in South Africa. The argument is based on presenting a historical overview of the two major black trade union federations that emerged in South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. One was non-racial and accepted white intellectuals as officials. It eventually grew into COSATU, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which played a major role in the mass democratic movement during the transition to democracy in 1994. The other black trade union federation was Africanist with some black consciousness orientations and appointed only blacks as officials. It eventually grew into NACTU, the National Council of Trade Unions. It never matched COSATU in size, strength or strategic leadership. The non-racial federation grew much stronger than the Africanist federation by focusing on building active democratic shop steward structures in the workplace. This was part of a deliberate strategy by white intellectuals in the unions to put control of the unions into the hands of black workers, who gradually rose through the ranks into positions of leadership. They and other black intellectuals replaced the white intellectuals in the unions who could then proceed to serve their country in other ways. One of them, Alec Erwin, is presently a minister in President Mbekis cabinet. Far from having been rebels without a cause, white intellectuals in black unions had the privilege of working towards political reconciliation as well as the search for social and economic justice in South Africa.

Can government facilitate participative workplace change? An examination of the Workplace Challenge Project in the Cape fish processing industry

Industrial policy in South Africa has undergone significant changes in the last decade. The lowering of tariff barriers in compliance with GATT and then WTO requirements has been paralleled by a shift in focus on the part of the state to the supply-side, with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) introducing various measures to encourage investment and stimulate competitiveness. Amongst the supply-side measures is the Workplace Challenge Project (WCP), which was launched by the DTI in 1995.

Similarities and Differences between Rebels with and without a Cause

Both our articles accept the construct that white officials in black unions were in a contradictory location. In an earlier article I wrote reflecting on the role of white intellectuals in black unions (Maree, 1989a) I also employed Eric Olin Wright’s ‘contradictory locations within class relations’ as a way of understanding the role of white intellectuals. Buhlungu innovatively extends the concept to include class and race relations, which strengthens its analytic power in the South African context. Buhlungu and I agree that white officials played a positive role in the black unions that emerged in the 1970s. Although Buhlungu fairly frequently mentions negative attributes of some white officials, he concludes that, ‘In short, the legacy of white officials in the black union movement was generally a positive one’. He attributes their positive role to the intellectual, strategic and administrative skills they brought to the unions as well as their access to financial resources. I attribute the positive role of white officials to the important role they played in helping to create democratic structures and practices in the black unions as well as helping to build the unions into powerful organizations. We both accept that white officials’ role in the black unions diminished during the 1980s, but for different reasons: Buhlungu attributes it to an increase in the number of young black assertive organic intellectuals who challenged white officials who then ‘retreated’ from the unions. I maintain that it was the objective of most white intellectuals right from the outset to train and develop black workers to take over the running of the unions. Rather than retreat from the unions, white officials could leave the unions

Developmental uses of mobile phones in Kenya and Uganda

Abstract It is common cause that the advent of mobile telecommunications, particularly the mobile phone, has been immensely beneficial to developing countries. Not only has it facilitated and improved communication between individuals, but also it has enabled economies to grow faster. This paper explores an additional benefit that derives from having access to a mobile phone. It examines the developmental uses of mobile phones in two East African countries: Kenya and Uganda. It focuses on the relationship between the economic upgrading and the social upgrading or downgrading that result from the developmental uses of mobile phones. It is done by means of case studies. In Kenya, the paper looks at three developmental projects making use of the M-Pesa platform, as well as two hubs in Nairobi where original ideas are incubated. In Uganda, it explores two uses of MTN’s mobile money facility and two innovative rural agricultural projects. It finds that all the cases and projects result in economic and social upgrading, although there is also some social downgrading. The study also extends and broadens the conceptualization of economic and social upgrading as formulated by Capturing the Gains thus far. Finally, the paper shows how it differs from most other studies on the developmental uses of mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa – by focusing on social entrepreneurship, which, unlike private entrepreneurship, seeks primarily to create social value. With one exception, all the cases studied in this paper enhance the capacity of users of mobile phones to upgrade themselves economically and socially.

Men without choice: A sample survey of African workers in Cape Town 1975–76

A sample survey amongst African men working in the Cape Peninsula established that they were men with hardly any say over their lives. Almost complete proleterianisation in the Ciskei and Transkei drove and locked them into the Peninsula. The labour bureaux system effectively controlled their employment opportunities while ineffective negotiating institutions added to their powerlessness.