(First published 25 February, 2011) Never judge a book by its cover. Nor, for that matter, the prospect of revolution by the labels given to mass protest, the radical tone of slogans or the harshness of repression. In a South African context, it also means not jumping to the conclusion that our liberal parliamentary democracy […]
A Facebook group, started to support a strike called for April 6, 2008 became, within three years, the most potent movement for political transformation in Egypt. Eva Haroun provides the background to this phenomenon.
The trade union movement, nationally and internationally‚ can be excused for being more than a trifle sceptical about announcements that the world is recovering from economic crisis. Unsurprisingly, this was the reported assessment of most business delegates to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that ended last weekend. In one, very narrow, respect this […]
Whither South Africa's macro-economic policy? The government has taken its New Growth Path framework to the Wor4ld Economic Forum in Davos, but the unions on the home front, along with the SACP, are deeply divided. Is the NGP another Gear or Asgisa or is it something really new?
A new bout of verbiage concerning labour brokers and the nature of jobs erupted as the country got back to work after the new year break. And the confusion it created was compounded by proposed changes to the labour laws produced last month by the government. According to one set of interpretations, the ANC has […]
This is the last Inside Labour column for 2010. So I want to take this opportunity not only to wish all readers the best for the season and the coming year, but also to touch on some of the baggage — on a micro and macro level — being carried forward into 2011. At a […]
South Africa has a justly lauded Constitution and Bill of Rights. It also has some of the best labour laws anywhere. These are victories largely attributable to the labour movement, but they remain paper victories that have constantly to be fought for to ensure that they are applied.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) turns 25 in December. But the birthday celebrations around the country will be dampened by heightened tension and some mildly acrimonious outbursts resulting from the content of the government’s New Growth Path (NGP) for the economy and the manner in which it was announced. Like the 1996 […]
Terry Bell Writes 
March 18, 2011
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