May Day: Time for Unions to Navigate New Geopolitical Realities
Members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) hold placards and shout slogans in support of a nationwide demonstration in Durban, South Africa, on February 13, 2019 against high unemployment and government policies that are deepening poverty.
Dr. Reneva Fourie
AS we commemorate May Day – the global day of workers' solidarity and struggle – we are reminded of the ongoing necessity to defend dignity, justice and equality.
The landscape of workers' organisation and struggle is evolving swiftly. Remote work is becoming the norm, and labour is increasingly casualised, unpredictable and dispersed as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and digitisation reshape the global economy.
In this context, traditional mechanisms of worker protection, like collective bargaining, are being eroded. Meanwhile, wages and working conditions are deteriorating, with workers barely able to maintain a basic standard of living. The demand for a robust, innovative and unified trade union movement has never been more urgent.
In South Africa, however, where poverty and unemployment continue to be high, the situation is particularly acute. A revitalised and united labour movement is essential for confronting the systemic forces underpinning these challenges.
Yet, trade union density has declined significantly, with fewer than 30 per cent of workers now unionised. The once-powerful trade union movement is fragmented, with COSATU, FEDUSA, SAFTU and NACTU competing for a shrinking formal sector membership base.
Internal rivalries and representational battles have weakened the capacity of organised labour to respond collectively to rising inequality, growing worker precarity, and the challenges posed by rapid technological change.
Critically, none of the existing federations have articulated a sufficiently bold or comprehensive strategy to address the structural transformations associated with digitisation, platform work and algorithmic management.
However, South African history powerfully demonstrates the transformative potential of organised labour. During the 1980s, the trade union movement was central not only to improving shop-floor conditions but also to the broader struggle against apartheid.
It mobilised workers across racial and sectoral lines, linking economic grievances to political demands for democracy and human rights. In the transition to democracy, trade unions successfully negotiated some of the world's most progressive labour laws, including the Labour Relations Act and Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
They secured institutionalised worker representation through the establishment of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC).
Today, there is a new struggle requiring courage, unity, and strategic dexterity. Capitalism has evolved under the influence of technology, and so must the labour movement. Far from emancipating humanity, contemporary technological innovations have been deployed to deepen exploitation: precarious gig work, freelancing under conditions of insecurity, zero-hour contracts, and pervasive digital surveillance have become widespread.
Rather than eradicating inequality, the so-called 'fourth industrial revolution' threatens to entrench it further.
Nevertheless, workers remain in the best position to navigate and challenge these new realities. It is workers who continue to sustain the traditional economy and produce, maintain and innovate the technologies driving the systems on which modern life depends.
Their creativity and knowledge generation underpin the economy's productive forces. Therefore, workers must not only defend their existing rights but must play a leading role in shaping the future of work itself.
This necessitates a shift in strategic orientation for trade unions. Beyond defensive struggles for better wages and working conditions, there is a pressing need to restructure the ownership and governance of production.
Such restructuring includes building and supporting worker cooperatives, advocating for workplace democracy, promoting public and common ownership of digital platforms, and securing rights to meaningful, dignified and secure work.
Trade unions must place broader social policies at the centre of their demands, including shorter working hours, comprehensive social security, universal healthcare, free and quality education, and affordable housing. They must demand a world where their work serves the whole of humanity, not just the ever more greedy few.
Importantly, the struggle for worker power cannot be confined within national boundaries. In a globalised economy where transnational corporations operate across multiple jurisdictions, international worker solidarity is no longer merely a matter of principle but a strategic necessity.
The algorithms that manage workers' productivity do not respect national borders, nor do the financial flows that extract value from their labour. Therefore, trade unions must forge international alliances, develop transnational strategies, and participate in global campaigns that contest corporate power worldwide.
South African trade unions face a critical responsibility in this regard. They must urgently overcome fragmentation and build a unified, inclusive movement that represents all segments of the working class. They must set aside narrow institutional rivalries and ideological contestation and embrace innovative forms of organisation, including establishing an overarching coordinating body.
New models such as platform cooperatives, digital unions, and sectoral bargaining frameworks for gig economy workers must be explored and adopted. Traditional strategies must be adapted to meet the needs of younger, digitally literate, and often highly mobile workforces who may not easily fit into older models of shop-floor organising.
Moreover, unions must reorient themselves towards proactive engagement with technological change. They must advocate for worker-driven innovation rather than merely reacting to technological displacement.
In this concept, workers actively participate in the design and implementation of new technologies, ensuring that the benefits of these innovations are shared fairly and that technological change is directed towards social good rather than corporate profit.
Every campaign for improved wages, working conditions, and labour rights today must be connected to a broader vision of a more equitable and sustainable society. Echoing Karl Marx's insight, the workers' movement must simultaneously address the immediate needs of the working class while carrying within it the seeds of a future beyond exploitation.
History shows that when workers come together and organise, they gain the power to improve their lives and impact the course of society. In a world reshaped by technology, inequality, and insecurity, South Africa requires a new generation of trade unionism – one that is bold, forward-looking, ready to defend, organise and empower workers across all sectors, and to humanise the economy in the age of AI and automation.
If workers unite in solidarity and vision, they will not only safeguard their livelihoods but also help to create a more just, inclusive and peaceful society for future generations.
* Dr Reneva Fourie is a policy analyst specialising in governance, development and security.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
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