WORKERS UNITE IN ACTION - IT'S NOT TOO LATE!

We salute the strikers in the autoworkers’ battle. It is a brave decision in today’s harsh times! Really, there is no alternative but to fight the bosses! We also salute the Mine Workers Union –Solidarity [ex-SAWU] for their solidarity! A solidarity strike from their members would have been better, but refusing to do the strikers’ work is immeasurably better than opposing the strike!

What are the bosses doing?

The bosses are attacking workers gains by insisting on a 3-year agreement where workers wage increases will be reduced to 3% or less in the second and third years! VW’s profit doubled last year but they do not want to even give a 15% increase. If an agreement is signed, all workers will suffer. NOW is the time to act! After the strike will be too late!

On the Ocgawu leaders:

In a fight you can only be, with the workers or with the bosses. To openly oppose the strike is to expose all motor sector workers nationally [whether they are on strike or not] to poverty conditions forever!

NOW is the right time to raise the demand for the reinstatement of the 1386 VWSA dismissed workers. The courts have shown they are in the pockets of the bosses!! Why do the Ocgawu leaders say 8% is ok for now and 3 % for the next 2 years is ok? What kind of deal have they struck for their own personal reasons? These leaders condemned the divisive actions of the Numsa leaders last year. Here, the Ocgawu leaders are not only proposing to maintain the split among the workers, they are placing a permanent obstacle in the way of real workers unity in action.

Personal agendas and individual enrichment is the prime motive behind the deal the Ocgawu leaders have struck behind the backs of their own members! They are no different from the Numsa leaders when they sold out the workers last year. What plans do the Ocgawu leaders have to fight for reinstatement of the 1386- Nothing!For them, it is better to fold arms while the dismissed workers and their families are dying! Workers – depend on your own strength and unity! What is required is a joint strike committee to spearhead workers’ unity in the strike and to lay the basis for workers’ unity in the future.

Only the bosses benefit when workers are divided. Opposing the strike is a betrayal to the entire working class! Almost 2 weeks have gone by and only now the national leadership of Ocgawu make a call for solidarity action from their members. Why did they take so long? Why do they not condemn the unmandated , divisive statements of their local leadership? All this shows that workers cannot depend on these Ocgawu leaders in time of crisis or to lead any strike!

On the Numsa leaders:

If theNumsa leaders were serious, they would have long ago have met with MWU and Ocgawu and planned a joint strategy, despite their differences. They would long ago have planned solidarity strikes in allied and surrounding companies. They sent Vavi and Nondwangu all over the country except Uitenhage. WHY? Clearly, they were never interested in the strike!It was only the pressure of the workers from the base that forced the strike. Cosatu is in alliance with the SACP, yet this supposed workers’ organization, claiming to be the vanguard, has been quiet in the strike! The silence of the SACP means that they too are in the pocket of the capitalists. Workers should break from both ANC and SACP. Now is the time to build an independent revolutionary working class party!

We must not confuse the actions of the Numsa LEADERS with the actions of the Numsa MEMBERS!

It was the VW BOSSES that dismissed the workers last year, NOT the Numsa MEMBERS! The Numsa LEADERS were the ones who struck a deal with the bosses.

THE WAY FORWARD

Now is the time to hit at both the VW bosses and the Numsa leaders. By workers striking, the VW bosses lose profit. By building a strong and united strike makes it very difficult for the Numsa leaders to sell out! The dismissed workers and their families should go to the gates of VW to protest on a daily basis! The threat of Daimler Chrysler or any other company to disinvest should be met with an international campaign of workers’ solidarity. What is the use of belonging to international metalworkers federation if, in time of crisis, they do not mobilize workers across the globe in defence of strikers!

WORKERS: JOIN THE STRIKE! SEND YOUR REPS TO THE STRIKE COMMITTEE!

DEMAND VAVI AND NONDWANGU TO COME AND ADDRESS THE STRIKERS!

NO TO SLAVE WAGES AND CONDITIONS! FORWARD TO A 1 YEAR AGREEMENT

FORWARD TO INTERNATIONAL WORKING CLASS SOLIDARITY!

DEMAND THE REINSTATEMENT OF THE 1386 VWSA DISMISSED WORKERS!

A WORKING CLASS UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!

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