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News & Views by Terry Bell
Browsing All Posts filed under »Inside Labour Column«
A route to a truly democratic society
South Africa's Bill of Right provides the cornerstone on which a truly democratic society can be built. The technical resources exist in a world of surpluses. Only imagination and political will are missing.
The myth of a ‘Lula moment’
November 30, 2012
Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of South Africa's major trade union federation, Cosatu, has proposed a "Lula moment" to defuse the country's "ticking time bomb" of poverty and unemployment. But there is a growing band of doubters who see this belief that Brazil's former president has — or had — a cure-all recipe for poverty, unemployment and economic growth as a myth.
Marikana, farms and forestry
November 24, 2012
There are none so blind as those that will not see. It is a saying popularised more than 300 years ago and it has had marked resonance following the bloody events at Marikana and the more recent upheavals among the fruit and wine farms of the Western Cape. At Marikana, 34 striking miners were shot […]
SA unrest: explosions waiting to happen…
November 16, 2012
There should have been no surprise or outrage expressed by mining companies, agribusiness, and government officials about the recent explosion of strikes and protests on mines and farms. And trade unionists across the board should not have been caught flat-footed by the outbursts of anger that erupted in the North West, Limpopo and now in […]
Trade unions and the need for transformation
November 8, 2012
It can be argued today that trade unions are more necessary than ever; that the organisations that played major roles in improving the political and economic lot of people around the world, have a huge task ahead of them. Yet much of the labour movement internationally is in a state of flux or stagnation and, in South Africa, there are signs of considerable disarray.
Unions, crises and tough times ahead
October 5, 2012
A world wracked by crises seems on the cusp of radical change, one way or another — reactionary or progressive — and the role of trade unions is thrown into sharp relief as a result. Whatever the outcome, even tougher times are likely.
Cold War echoes & trade union reform
September 28, 2012
Both the Cold War and the bitter battles between communists and social democrats in Germany of the Thirties found an echo at the 11th Cosatu national congress in Midrand last week. These came in speeches and in often angry comments from delegates in debates about international affiliation.
Cosatu goes forward united in tactical diversity
September 21, 2012
The media came to the 11th national congress of South Africa's major trade union federation, Cosatu, expecting metaphoric blood on the floor. It never happened because, for all the often bitter divisions, all factions seems united in believing that the governing, ANC-led alliance is the only true was forward.
Terry Bell Writes 
December 7, 2012
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