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News & Views by Terry Bell
Browsing All Posts filed under »Inside Labour Column«
Cosatu congress will go for unity at all costs
Amid unprecedented media interest, Cosatu’s eleventh national congress got underway in Midrand on Monday. Many of the more than 300 journalists, photographers and members of camera crews accredited to attend the event are clearly expecting drama. They are likely to be disappointed. Unity at all costs is likely to paper ove all differences.
Union key to a truly democratic future
September 2, 2012
To see the tragedy at Lonmin in isolation from the other, almost daily, upheavals around the country would be a mistake; they all stem from similar causes. All unions need to join this chorus because the desperate poverty among many miners and their families is the same desperate poverty that afflicts millions, mainly in the rural areas and squatter camps of South Africa. Democratic unionism may hold one of the keys to solving these problems.
Sorting fact from fiction at Marikana
August 23, 2012
Inflammatory propaganda, opportunistic interventions and a narrow, finger pointing focus engaged in by everyone from opposition politicians and government ministers to mine management and some campaigning groups, has added to the tension following the bloodshed at Lonmin's Marikana mine. It is high time to sort out some facts from often self-serving propaganda.
Hope amid joblessness and exploitation
August 17, 2012
Even amid drudgery and disappointment, there can be Cinderella moments; times when there is a glimpse of what may be possible; times when even the humblest and most exploited may be able to indulge, however briefly, in the illusion of what a better life might really be. But real Cinderella moments tend to contain a social bite, for all their contradictions, because they retain their moorings in reality.
The forgotten legacy of workers’ Olympics
August 10, 2012
Once again, as the summer Olympiad comes to an end, the Ganes are shrouded in some very modern myths that ignore their real origins — and fail to give credit where credit is due. Much of the credit for the fact that women now compete and that men and women from every background are generally included on the basis of ability alone, goes to the labour movement, mainly in Europe, but also in the United States.
Know clearly what you want — and will fight for
August 2, 2012
That there is widespread and apparently growing cynicism within the South African labour movement about politics and politicians is perfectly understandable. Perhaps the lesson to be learned is not only to be careful what you wish for, but to be perfectly clear about what you want and are prepared to fight for.
Why the law is so often an ass
July 27, 2012
The controversial medical parole of South Africa's former top cop, Jackie Selebi, has once again thrown into stark relief questions about kidney disease and treatment, questions that have long disturbed the labour movement. Over the years nothing has changed: it is the size of a bank balance, sometimes the level of powerful connections, that determines whether a chronically ill person lives or dies.
Terry Bell Writes 
September 18, 2012
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