Comprehending Union Growth and Decline: The Case of the South African Independent Unions

The experience of the South African independent unions underscores some of the complexities of union growth and decline. Whilst, as predicted in the literature, there is some relationship between institutional changes, economic trends, and long term structural change, it is clear that causal relationships are both complex and interrelated. Indeed, closer qualitative analysis of organizational trends results in seemingly clear patterns dissolving in a welter of detail. However, a number of issues are clearly apparent. Firstly, the South African experience underscores the fact that, even in relatively adverse institutional circumstances such as the late apartheid era unions can prosper. Again, whilst the contours of union growth (and decline) are related to economic long waves, these affects may again be exacerbated or mitigated by real strategic choices. Whilst mass popular mobilization in a society undergoing a struggle for democratization may facilitate union growth, certain unions are better equipped to benefit from such circumstances than others. It is concluded that whilst the current global crisis of organized labour is largely a product of adverse external forces, it is too easy to fall into a determinist trap; there needs to be more understanding on the process of internal strategic decision making, and the relationship between particular sets of organization strategies and numerical outcomes. In comprehending union growth and decline, a key question is whether unions are subjects or objects of history (Hyman 2001:1). In other words, are the relative fortunes of unions the subject of external forces, or are they, at least in part, the result of strategic choices that unions themselves make? Moreover, it is extremely difficult to view the past objectively; most unions look back to a golden age from which they draw inspiration (ibid.: 1). And, the rise of the South African independent unions was, in part, an uphill battle to cope and prosper in a hostile climate; it also represents a source of inspiration, of a simpler time when the battle lines were more clearly drawn. As Visser (2001: n.p.) notes, explanations of union decline tend to be cyclical, structural, and institutional. In a classic study, Commons et al suggested the fortunes of organized labour in the United States was closely tied to phases of economic growth and crises. A number of methodologies have been developed for modelling such fluctuations. However, whilst it is accepted that there is some relationship between fluctuations in the business cycle and union growth and decline, evidence is mixed as to the relationship between inflation, unemployment and union growth (Visser 2001). High inflation may prompt workers to pursue wage increases, as they see their standard of living under threat; however, the free-rider effect means that wage rises in inflationary times are often general. Similarly, unemployment may put employers in a stronger bargaining position. However, it may – in the absence of an effective social welfare system – place workers under greater pressure to secure wage increases to support a swelling pool of dependants (Wood 1995). Moreover, the ability of unions to influence the manner in which layoffs are made may, again, make union membership more attractive (Visser 2001). Avoiding getting bogged down in the intricacies of econometric modelling, John Kelly (1998:126) suggests that some of the most convincing cyclical explanations draw on a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. Kelly notes that there is a close relationship between Kondratieff waves, mobilization, union growth, and strike action. However, economic waves also mould employer responses, changes in bargaining coverage and consolidation phases (ibid.:105). A variation of cyclical explanations are structural ones. This viewpoint is shared by a wide range of writers from the post-fordists to more traditional Marxists. Here, union growth reflects long term changes in the capitalist economy. These could include the decline of fordism, technological advance, moves towards monopoly capitalism, etc. Within the South African case, those making use of theories of Social Structures of Accumulation (SSA) and regulation provide some of the most eloquent explanations of structural change. It is argued that capital accumulation takes place within a supporting social-institutional structure (Nattrass 1992:33). Under apartheid, the latter took the form of a distinct apartheid SSA, characterised by racial fordism: the expansion of fordist methods coupled with a rigid racial division of labour (ibid.). An SSA aims to provide the basis for stable capital accumulation; the crisis of racial fordism in the 1ate 1970s and 1980s – characterised by skills shortages and low productivity – led to pressures for the system’s reform. The latter was reflected in the gradual abandonment of the colour bar, and the skilling of the African labour force. In turn, this opened new opportunities for African workers, a process that was accelerated with a gradual move away from classic fordist to more flexible forms of production (Rogerson 1991: 218). Finally, institutional explanations look at changes in the legal context, ranging from the right to closed shops to protection during collective action (Visser 2001). Generally, the assumption is that more hard-line approaches have made for weaker unions (Goddard 1997). However, as Hyman notes, variations in the strength of the union movement between national contexts can at least in part be ascribed to distinct manifestations of trade union identity, forged by historical experience, and different strategic choices (Wood 2000). Understanding union growth and decline in South Africa is made considerably more difficult by irregularities in official sources. For example, as black trade unions were not legally recognized until 1979, no official attempt was made to accurately record their membership. Again, official procedures for calculating a range of economic data changed at several stages during the period under review. Nonetheless, both official and unofficial data generally corroborate eachother in highlighting the existence of specific trends and turning points. However, these limitations in sources confine the analyst to descriptive rather than quantitative forms of analysis. The Emergence of the Independent Unions in the 1970s The development of trade unionism amongst African workers was a slow process and one that was characterised by different circumstances in the urban centres where union organisation began. Maree has identified three features that were common to the new organisations (1987: 2-3). First, trade unions were preceded by organisations that were established to assist workers through educational activity and legal advice and which did recruit members, but which did not describe themselves as trade unions. In Durban and Pietermaritzburg, the General Factory Workers Benefit Fund (GFWBF) was formed in 1972, the Urban Training Project (UTP) and the Industrial Aid Society (IAS) were established in Johannesburg and the Western Province Workers’ Advice Bureau (WPWAB) in Cape Town, also in 1972. It was assumed that the form of these organisations would be seen as less of a threat by the government and employers and would therefore afford some protection from state repression (Maree ibid.). Secondly, the emergence of these early organisations and the initiative for the formation of unions was not a spontaneous affair but was given direction by intellectuals and students “outside the ranks of the black working class although this was done in conjunction with former trade unionists.”(ibid.) In the case of the GFWBF, IAS and the WPWAB, students and academics played a key role together with a few former organisers of the exiled South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) a sister organization of the then banned African National Congress (ANC). In the case of the UTP, unionists who had left the Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA) and who supported African trade unionism, took the initiative. It was this grouping of organisations and the individuals associated with them, which provided important resources for the formation of trade unions that followed shortly afterwards. Finally, the “founders of the independent union movement had in common a commitment to create democratic trade unions.” (Ibid., p.3) This meant establishing union structures that were run on the basis of active worker participation at the workplace, member control of union affairs and a high degree of accountability by officials. Creating democratic unions also meant practising non-racialism, although this was largely confined to the leadership of these organisations as the membership remained exclusively African during the 1970s. The emphasis on democratic, member-oriented organisation could be seen to bear a strong resemblance to developments in certain European union movements following the resurgence of worker militancy during the 1960s and early 1970s and the ‘challenge from below’.. During this period, union members “came to be seen in activist terms, capable of formulating and prosecuting its own interests, while full-time officers were viewed as facilitators, assisting members in the task of self-organisation”(Heery and Kelly 1994: 1 A conservative white dominated federation, most affiliate unions representing skilled workers. p.4). Much the same view was held amongst the leadership of the emerging unions in South Africa – who were also informed by the experience of earlier attempts at organizing African workers that had foundered owing to an over-reliance on a few key leadership figures. However, the extent to which members were capable of pursuing their own interests, was constrained by their lack of experience of trade unionism and the harsh response of management and the state. The role of leadership thus inevitably assumed a greater significance in the emerging unions, particularly during the 1970s. The strike wave in Durban in early 1973 sent African workers flocking to the new organisations and the first trade unions were established during the same year, namely the Metal and Allied Workers Union (MAWU) and the National Union of Textile Workers (NUTW). In 1972 there were no more than 2000 members in the emerging organisations and by 1974, this number had grown to 43 747. Of this membership, the NUTW and MAWU accounted for 24 000, demonstrating the centrality of the Durban area to the early growth of these organisations. Growth in membership continued to increase dramatically until 1976 and then declined gradually for the remainder of the decade (see Table 1) . Table 1: Employment, Membership of Unregistered Trade Unions and Density, 19701979 Year Employment (non-agricultural) Membership Density 1970 3 748 341 0