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8
Our first meeting was attended by 6 comrades (5 men and only 1 woman) who are shopstewards in different unions. They all have some experiences with TNCs as they either work for a TNC or had to deal with them when they try to take over municipal services as part of the government's privatisation programme. All participants and facilitators live in Cape Town.
Jocelyn comes from the Chemical Workers Union and works at the Caltex refinery in Cape Town. She is very interested to develop methods to counter the power of TNCs and hopes that the course will help to establish links between shopstewards in different countries. Ultimately, she hopes for international collective bargaining and her message to the other study circles is: Let us use technology to fight the continuous oppression of TNCs! When Jocelyn is not busy with union meetings, she enjoys doing 'absolutely nothing'.
Aubrey comes from the Metalworkers Union and works for the Porter Group (which sells cars) as a technician. He hopes to learn a lot about TNCs and their role in South Africa from the study circle. His message to the other study circles is that we must work harder to tackle the issues facing workers. When he is not working, Aubrey enjoys reading and taking his daughter to the movies.
Lance V. is a full-time shopstewarde for the Municipal Workers Union and was a water inspector before. He is also a member of the Environmental Justice Network and of "Justice and peace", a South African NGO. Lance hopes to share information on TNCs through the study circle and hopes that it will help to really build international solidarity. When he does not work, Lance enjoys making ceramics and outdoor activities.
Collin comes from the Metalworkers Union which he joined 9 years ago. He is a full-time shopsteward and works for 'Gabriel' which produces shock absorbers. He hopes to get to know more about the struggles of workers in other countries as he feels that the struggle of workers in other countries is also our struggle. He says that we must fight TNCs to take back what they have taken from workers.
Derek works as a clerk at International Harbour Services and is a shopsteward for the Transport Workers Union. He wants to share experiences and build international solidarity through the study circle. His message is: Viva Solidarity Viva!
Lance d.T. comes from the Municipal Workers Union. When he is not working he enjoys singing in the church choir and spending time with his family. He hopes to broaden his understanding of TNCs and to link up with comrades around the world. His message is: Never give up - just keep on moving!
The 3 facilitators of the study circle are Martin from the Trade Union Library and Education Centre, Jonathan who works at the University of Cape Town and Herbert from the labour-service organisation ILRIG.
Our first study circle lasted for 2 and a half hours and our discussions centred around the following:
TNCs and globalisation seem so powerful that it sometimes looks as if we can't do anything about them. However, we must build on our culture of resistance to fight back. We can also use new technologies to fight this globalisation which is just another way of enslaving people.
We are disappointed that Germany is not participating and find the excuse given unacceptable. If the facilitator does not have time, someone else should take over. We also wonder why Kenya is raising the financial problems so late. We hope that these countries and Taiwan will still join the study circle. They should then have extra sessions to catch up with the other countries.
We hope that the course will assist to build international solidarity which is much more than lip-service. We must develop programmes to counter the effects of globalisation and develop guidelines for TNCs. Sharing information about TNCs is important and we must also look at ways of establishing international shopstewards councils.
In the past many people showed support for our struggle in South Africa and we are now ready to support struggles elsewhere. We are interested to find out how workers elsewhere have faught privatisation, how workers at TNCs are treated in other countries and how the living and working conditions are for member of the study circle in the other countries. Also, where are you holding your meetings? Are you faced with repression?
We had some problems with our first session. The time was too short and the introduction was far too long. We spent too much time on things we already knew and some issues came up repeatedly. We would like to move quicker to the 'real' issues. Also some of the questions were too simple. On the positive side, we learned from each other about TNCs in other sectors and saw a common link: we are all affected by TNCs.
So far the report from Cape Town, South Africa, 9 October 1997
With best wishes from all of us
Herbert
International Labour Resource and Information Group
P.O.Box 1213 Woodstock
7915
South Africa
Ph: +27- 21 - 476375
Fax: +27- 21 - 448 2282
e-mail: ilrig@worknet.apc.org
Links Conserning this summary
Study Circles other summaries
[Session 1]/ [Session 2]/ [Session 3]/ [Session 4]
[Session 5]/ [Session 6]/ [Session 7]/ [Session 8]
[Evaluation]
Summaries of session1
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