unions | Terry Bell Writes

Browsing All posts tagged under »unions«

A new dawn — or an impending storm

May 31, 2019

It was obvious from the first announcement last year about South Africa's minimum wage levels that they probably signalled storm clouds rather than any pale rays of a new dawn. However it is not only to the labour front that the purveyors of a promised new dawn  should pay close heed.

Austerity and the lack of a real alternatve

February 24, 2019

A social compact is not an alternative to the present social and economic system. It is a variation on the same theme — a bad one from the point of view of labour — and it does pose as an alternative. Time perhaps for labour to counter with a clearly costed and articulated route to a real alternative that would benefit the many rather than the few.

Labour’s view of SONA 2019, S. Africa

February 9, 2019

There is nothing new in the recipes proposed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to remedy the damage done over the past decade to South Africa's state institutions and the economy. They are recipes that trade unions across th board have already rejected.

Davos & the spectre of populism

January 26, 2019

Populism was a spectre haunting the super rich when they met in Davos, Switzerland. this past week. But while this emergence of nationalist, protectionist sentiment does pose a threat to global corporations, it does not threaten the system based on competition and the exploitation of labour. It also carries with it the poison of zenophobia.

Trade wars & steps in the right direction

November 18, 2018

It seems essential to take steps to move away from the clearly dangerous and damaging economic dogma of neo-liberalism. Far from being either free or fair, it is, in fact, an anarchic system that creates the "race to the bottom" that so harms the majority to the benefit of a tiny minority while being destructive, overall.

Looking to real alternatives

August 31, 2018

As the global economic crunch continues and seems to be worsening, perhaps it is time to look to the examples of democratic control manifest in the recovered factories movements of Latin America. There may even be sound lessons to be gained by researching what happened in Paris in 1871.

Hope amid the gathering fog of populism

August 13, 2018

gathering fog of poisonous populism that already threatens everyone. However, there are some straws of hope to cling to in an increasingly turbulent political sea.

World of work gets a collective vision

June 24, 2018

Some small steps were taken in Cape Town last week that may revitalise the weakened trade union movement and so, hopefully, ensure that decent work regulations are not only put in place, but are closely monitored — and enforced.