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News & Views by Terry Bell
Potential SA strike turmoil & the 2019 elections
The response to the April 25 general strike call by the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) and the turnouts and attitudes expressed at coming May Day rallies should provide a good indication of the mood of a widely disgruntled labour movement. It may also provide a clear union response to President Cyril Ramaphosa's newly announced Youth Employment Scheme.
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
SA’s public broadcaster blunders again
March 30, 2018
In an action that has stunned broadcasters and many radio listeners, popular SAfm morning show radio host Sakina Kamwendo had her last Forum at Eight programme shut down by management, halfway through its alloted hour. In what one senior broadcaster called "a public relations mess", Kamwendo was abruptly taken off air and in a move reminiscent of military coups, music was instead played, without explanation.
Posted in: General reporting
4th Industrial Revolution: the underlying question
March 24, 2018
Many of the arguments about the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) are simplistic and often crude, despite the wealth of information and analysis available. What underlies all this "noise" about 4IR is the question of what economic system will be required for "the machines" to operate to the benefit of all.
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
The “hymn of labour” that still survives
March 17, 2018
The Internationale, that labour hymn of protest and call to action has survived being appropriated by that grotesque parody of socialism in the former Soviet Union. It should be celebrated on Sunday, March 18, the anniversary of the start of the 1871 Paris Commune that provided the inspiration for it.
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
Which women best epitomise IWD?
March 11, 2018
As was noted at the International Women's Day founding conference in Copenhagen in 1910: “It is a matter of indifference who is the ‘master’, a man or a woman.” Is it women who support this point of view who best represent the ideals that should be striven for?
Posted in: Commentary
New insight on International Women’s Day
March 11, 2018
This year — 100 years after the British government granted all men over the age of 21 and some women over the age of 30 the vote — more than 3 000 British police and Home Office records about official actions against “votes for women” suffragettes were made public. Together, these events provide fresh insight into International Women's Day and the goal of many who fought for women's rights.
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
When will the time bomb cease to tick?
March 2, 2018
What the latest Budget has done is, on the one hand, to placate the money lenders and the business elite while, on the other, further alienating and angering the majority of South Africans. The time bomb is continuing to tick. But for how much longer before an explosion occurs?
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
March 31, 2018
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