na * * f r ^ «
* O l * * j mr* C»W* H O W " Qti iff!
DURBAN INDIAN CHILD AND FAMILY WELFARE SOCIETY
1FUN0 RAISING NO. OB M O W ! 000 2)
P o t t * U M » P.O. ft** i M . Ouffr B. V K 1H * iiKI Flootfc P i o n o * B u i l d - ^ P*on»«r XrcaO*. rt &*•** Rfte*. BURL P t a M l M U t t M a i
6 Qecenber 1905
MESSAGE FP0« THE PflESIOENT
DUR8AK INDIAN CHILD AND FAfllLY VELfARE SOCIETY
I u i a h t o c o n p r e t u l a t e Soeek o n t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o r I t e s p e c i a l
iMUtf*
The Speek faoazine h a s b e e n a v e r y u s e f u l a i d i n p r o b a t i n g d i s c u s s i o n s ationcj t i o n e n a n I s s u e s v h i c h a f f e c t t h e i r c a r t o
cay l i u a i .
Speak h a s a f r e r d e o o u r uomen a s p e c i a l Waoazine o f t h e i r o u nt
w h i c h a l l o c s f o r t h e i r a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i o n and l n u o l u e o e n t . H e r e i n l i e * t h e s u c c e s s o f t h e R e a e z i n e .
Cn b e h a l f o f n y S o c i e t y end i t s s t e r f I t j i a h t o r e c o r d t h e hope t h a t Speak c r o u s f r o * s t r e n g t h t o s t - e n o t h and c o n t i n u e s t o p r o n o t e t h e r i g h t s o r o u r wonen b a t h a t home ana o n t n e f a c t o r y f l o o r .
KN C i n u e l e
PRESIDENT
ikas tfete
u**cwen • ok •&& S/^Af tectuyc j/ZAc bates cvfciU &6s*x?s
THE WOMEN'S CENTRE 16 E.C.T.
2 0 ST ANDREWS STREET DURBAN
4001
Dear SPEAK C o l l e c t i v e
SPEAK nurber 10! Congratulations!
I t I s so inportant I n our work, and f o r a l l x n e n , t o have a aagarine I n both English and Zulu, which focuses s p e c i f i c a l l y on m i e n ' s issues. Through reading SPEAK wonen can hear about iraten organising In other areas * t h i s can o n l y be a OOOti t h i n e !
Thank you f o r c e l l i n g people about The Woeen's C m t r e through a r t i c l e s and book reviews.
In SPEAK nagazlne.
Yours in sisterhood
THE v / j r i g r s CCN7AE
WHEN WILL WE ALL HAVE JOBS ?
NO work. Redundancy. Retrenchment. SADF.
Apartheid. Factory closed down. Short t i m e . Theft, Break-ins. P o l i c e , Rape, No money for food are a l l words t h a t are ever p a r t o f any conversation these days.
Who's pushing our country i n t h i s d i r e c t i o n ? The m a j o r i t y of people have no say over how the country i s run, over how the f a c t o r i e s , townships and schools are r u n . I t i s a system where the bosses make t h e i r wealth out o f the workers' labour. And bigger p r o f i t s are the bosses' only concern.
The only way we have of changing t h i s i s t o organise through unions and community organisations f o r a society i n which we have c o n t r o l over every aspect o f our 1i ves.
Where everybody has a r i g h t t o work. To f i g h t f o r the kind o f society i n which we want t o l i v e .
And as women we've got t o f i g h t t o make sure t h a t we're as much a part o f c r e a t i n g our f u t u r e , t o ensure our e q u a l i t y w i t h i n i t .
L i z z i e i s a worker who has r e c e n t l y been retrenched. She t o l d us t h e s t o r y of her factory being closed down. F i r s t o f a l l the bosses s t a r t e d by c l o s i n g down two sections o f the f a c t o r y .
"That day at our f a c t o r y the boss got u sets 9 and 10 would be c l o s i n g down. He
'Don't t e l l the other workers about t h i s ' . So we s a i d : "No! We c a n ' t keep t h i s i n . We w i l l c a l l them and t e l l them". We went back and s a i d : nHey! Stop working please! Sets 9 and 10 are c l o s i n g ! "
Everyone said how can he do t h i s
t o us? Time went on and on and ^ the r e s t o f us were w a i t i n g f o r
our day t o come. Anyway, r i g h t enough, they c a l l e d us and s a i d :
"The f a c t o r y i s c l o s i n g on the 10th o f December."
The organiser from the Garment Workers* union came and s a i d :
"Look, the boss says he's c l o s i n g . There's nothing her can do. He's
s supervisors together and t o l d us that the t o l d us t o go back t o work* but he s a i d :
* > ©
H '•«*! * - ? * • * lo Se
«*©
. o « * L*
*y
**£>*
*TS*»*
^ *
*SffiP 0 Z* 0
«*£&
* * * , * * *, , t f . <***
l/l p*
1P^
• £
J i C ^
got no more job f o r you a l l - Just co<ae on Friday and c o l l e c t your nwney".
WHY WAS THE FACTORY CLOSING?
The bosses said the factory was closing down because they weren't making any p r o f i t . But we already knew t h a t he had a f a c t o r y at Marburg and one i n Zululand, at Istthebe. They offered supervisors jobs at the Isithebe factory. And why are the bosses moving t o I s i t h e - be? According t o what they t o l d us. U s cheaper labour there. They get something l i k e R20.00 a week. In Pinetwon they were paying R50.0D.
The way we look at i t i t s paying two workers the wage o f one worker here i n Pinetwon. That's the way we took i t . He's running f o r cheap labour there at Isithebe.
•
THE TRADE UNIONS
In our factory there are some workers who are members o f two unions - the Garment Workers' Union and FOSATU (now part o f COSATUl. Now a
l o t of them regret not j o i n i n g FOSATU. Woooo! You know, when they t o l d us they were c l o s i n g down, they a l l wanted t o race t o the FOSATU
o f f i c e . They hadn't joined before because according t o them they heard that FOSATU was closing down f i r m s . Yet when the factory above us closed down, FOSATU found those workers j o b s .
THEN THE BOSS TRIED TO CLOSE EVEN BEFORE THE 10TH
The workers were very angry, as the boss then decided he wanted t o t r y and close before the 10th. The workers l e f t the factory and stood outside. The p l o i c e were there outside i n t h e i r vans - the bosses had c a l l e d them. I went t o the p o l i c e and I s a i d : "No, you a l l must go away, there's no f i g h t i n g here. We're only t a l k i n g f o r our r i g h t s , "
And the boss was scared that the workers would k i l l him. So he s a i d :
"Okay, okay! I ' l l pay them t i l l the 1 0 t h ! " .
WHAT ARE WE TO DO?
You know t h e r e ' s some that d o n ' t know what t o do now. Host o f the women working at the f a c t o r y are bread-winners. They've been saying:
"What are we going t o do now? Where do we go t o now? W e ' l l have t o go and buy things and s i t 1n the road and s e l l " . Then t h e y ' v e been saying: "Who's going t o buy? I t looks l i k e everybody i s going t o be out o f a j o b . Some o f the women grew up i n t h a t f a c t o r y . They never
came fron> another f a c t o r y , Old and grey they are now, they worked there from t h e time they l e f t school.
AND WHAT DO WE GET AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?
We get severence pay - being paid o f f because we've been retrenched.
Really i t s very l i t t l e . And f o r those who have worked f o r 17 years o r more get only 6 week's pay- And t h e r e ' s women t h a t s worked there f o r 35 y e a r s , and they s t i l l o n l y get 6 weeks severence pay. The bosses have robbed u s , r e a l l y . But we're s t i l l meeting together t o go t o the union o f f i c e s . We won't accept t h i s robbery!"
Very often when women workers r e t u r n t o work a f t e r having a baby, the bosses takfe them on as i f t h e y ' r e new workers w i t h no t r a i n i n g and no s e r v i c e . So, o f course they pay them on lower grades as w e l l . Because i t i s women who hdve t o bear c h i l d r e n * i t i s they who &re faced w i t h not being able t o b u i l d up years i n service w i t h t h e i r f i r m s , as every baby born i s taken as breaking s e r v i c e . When r e t r e n c h - ments take place and the system o f L1F0 - l a s t worker h i r e d i s the f i r s t t o go - 1t i s the women who often have the shortest services and are the f i r s t t o go.
7
Sharon, a Metal and A l l i e d Workers1 Union shop steward t o l d SPEAK about how t h e i r union fought t o improve t h e l o t o f women workers at t h e i r f a c t o r y i n Pinetown. She s a i d : "Now at least through the union we have a maternity agreement f o r 6 month's maternity leave when women have babies, and i t i s not counted as broken s e r v i c e " .
She f e l t very sore about the retrenchments t a k i n g place. She s a i d :
"During t h i s time now bosses take a l o t o f advantage - they know we w i l l accept anything as we are so desperate. This i s why the workers must organise more around retrenchments. I d o n ' t believe there should be retrenchment, there should rather be short-time where everybody suffers together. Workers, through t h e i r unions, must work towards a f u t u r e where the workers have a say. They must c o n t r o l what goes on, not t h e bosses. They must be s t r o n g . "
PEOPLE ARE ORGANISING IN TRADE UNIONS AND COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT. IN THE FUTURE MUCH BIGGER CHANGES WILL HAVE TO BE MADE IN HOW THE COUNTRY IS RUN, TO ENSURE EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO WORK.
THE TRADE UNIONS
Trade unions are t r y i n g t o f i g h t against retrenchments, but i t i s very hard. They f i g h t f o r :
* Bosses t o discuss l i k e l y retrenchment before they happen, so t h a t workers can make c e r t a i n demands.
* That management doesn't use retrench- ments t o get r i d o f 'trouble-makers1.
* Short-time instead o f retrenchments.
* Ban on over-time.
* For good maternity agreements.
* Union members t o be re-employed as
soon as production picks up.
* LIFO t o be a p p l i e d .
* Good severance pay.
Sarmcol workers from Kpophomeni who were recently f i r e d from t h e i r jobs and
are at present f i g h t i n g t o get t h e i r jobs back have started a co-operative
s i l k - s c r e e n i n g T - s h i r t s . The money made from t h i s i s used t o provide food for the workers w h i l e the s t r i k e continues.
* * * * * * *
IN THE COMMUNITIES
In seme areas people get together and organise:
* Bulk-buying schemes where people contribute and organise together t o buy food more cheaply.
* S e t t i n g up work co-operatives where people share s k i l l s , l i k e t n
carpentry, sewing, and candle-making t o earn a l i v i n g .
* Setting up vegetable gardens where people p l a n t on a conmon piece o f ground*
