Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora

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Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora
Published by the New York Labor Committee Against Apartheid, c/o ILGWU Local 23-25, 275 7th Ave, NY, 10001

Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates
"The Government Must Go!" Says COSATU ; Call to Mass Action
   The African National Congress
(ANC) suspended participation in the
multi-party Convention for a Demo-
cratic South Africa (CODESA) at the
end of June in the wake of escalating
violence and the government's contin-
ued complicity in it . The move fol-
lowed less than a week after the brutal
massacre of 42 people in the Boipatong
township . On June 17, about 200
Inkatha vigilantes poured into Boipa-
tong and systematically butchered
men, women and children in their
homes . Dozens of survivors confirmed
that the attackers were transported to
the township by government security
forces, who further participated in the
massacre by shooting at fleeing resi-
dents .

           Mass Action
   The break-down of negotiations         On referendum day, posters urged whites to vote "yes ." But blacks still cannot
was provoked by the massacre, but the     vote, and ANC and COSATU supporters demonstrate every Friday in Johan-
process had already stalled because of    nesburg to demand an interim government.
the government's persistent resistance    mass action to pressure the govern- wards ending apartheid at the same
to majority rule.                         ment and demand an interim govern- time that it firmly maintains political
   The second round of talks in the       ment . The mass action campaign, and economic control.
Convention for a Democratic South         which includes stayaways, boycotts,          The much celebrated whites-only
Africa (CODESA) ended on May 15 in        sit-ins and a general strike, started on referendum in March provided a clear
a deadlock . While the government and     June 16, Soweto Day . The Congress of example of this pattern . The referen-
the African National Congress had         South African Trade Unions dum results were announced on
reached some agreement on plans for       (COSATU) had already threatened a March 18 and showed that over two
an interim government, negotiations       strike over the issue of an interim gov- million white voters, a 69% majority,
broke down because of the minority        ernment.                                  said "yes" in a national vote on reform-
government's refusal to give up veto         At a June 29 funeral service for 37 of ing apartheid . The vote excluded all
power in some areas of an interim gov-    the Boipatong victims, COSATU Gen- 26 million black South Africans, so it
ernment . The goal is to preserve eco-    eral Secretary Jay Naidoo led the was hardly the "birthday of a new
nomic and political power for the         group of 25,000 mourners in a thun- South Africa," as DeKlerk claimed.
white minority in a future state and      derous chant of "DeKlerk must go!"        Yet, it was widely seen as a clear man-
undermine the principle of a unitary                                                date from whites to continue negotia-
South Africa based on one person, one           Maintaining Apartheid               tions toward a transition government
vote.                                                                               and a new constitution.
   The ANC and its allies responded          Throughout the negotiations, the          That same day, however, DeKlerk
with an extensive and intensive plan of   government appeared to move to-                                Continued on page 6
Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora
PRETORIA CONCEDES ON LABOR RIGHTS
   In South Africa, government prom-                                   gation . The federation was particu-
ises regarding labor rights are about as                               larly concerned about basic rights for
reliable as the New York subway sys-                                   farm, domestic, and public-sector
tem . But South African labor has one                                  workers and for workers in the home-
invaluable weapon : the desire of the                                  lands . The extension of labor rights to
government and business estab-                                         these workers had also been agreed
lishment for international respect-                                    upon in the Laboria Minute.
ability.                                                                  The withdrawal of government op-
     In February 1992, for example, an                                 position cleared the way for the three-
International Labor Organization                                       person ILO delegation to take up those
(ILO) fact-finding and conciliation                                    issues during its two-week visit.
commission held hearings in South Af-                                  COSATU also asked the ILO to inves-
rica on a wide range of issues . The visit                             tigate basic freedoms of association
took place after the government first                                  and assembly, as well as the ongoing
insisted on severe limits to any inves-                                political violence . The federation pre-
tigation . Then, increasingly aware                                    sented extensive evidence of violence
that this would represent a serious                                    aimed at unions, particularly in the
diplomatic gaffe, the government                                       bantustans . The violence has greatly
agreed to allow the panel "to deliber-                                 inhibited union organizing and ac-
ate on labor matters in general ." The                                 tions, and in fact has undermined ex-
report of the ILO panel, which could                                   isting labor rights.
spur further reform, has yet to be made                                    In a dispute at BTR-Sarmcol in Bo-
public.                                                                phuthatswana, for example, the entire
     A key area that COSATU pressed                                    National Union of Metalworkers'
the ILO to investigate is the absence of                               (NUMSA) membership was fired and
labor rights for agricultural workers.                                 scabs, mostly members of Inkatha's           considerable weight with the Man-
                                                                       United Workers' Union of South Af-           power Department and Parliament.
           Laboria Minute                                              rica (UWUSA), were recruited . It has        COSATU and labor federation
                                                                       since been revealed that UWUSA is a          NACTU agreed to participate in the
   Labor had originally encouraged                                     state-controlled organization, funded        NMC under these conditions.
the ILO to send a delegation to South                                  by police in order to stymie COSATU.            Labor joined the NMC as debate
Africa in 1988 to investigate union                                    The dispute is yet unresolved.               over agricultural workers was already
complaints against proposed draco-                                                                                  under way . With labor's active in-
nian amendments to the Labor Rela-                                                          About Face              volvement, the NMC—which also in-
tions Act (LRA) . Those amendments                                                                                  cludes representatives from the
were scrapped in 1990, in an agree-                                           In the 1990 settlement, labor also    government and the private sector—
ment called the Laboria Minute, under                                      forced the government to promise to      decided to call upon the government
enormous pressure from a deter-                                            reform the National Manpower Com-        to extend basic labor rights to farm-
mined, two-year labor campaign.                                            mission (NMC) . The NMC was to be        workers.
    COSATU then began an effort to                                         democratized, and its recommenda-           After these discussions, the govern-
broaden the scope of any ILO investi-                                      tions were to be strengthened to carry   ment dragged its feet on restructuring
                                                                                                                    the NMC to give it more power, caus-
                                                                                                                    ing COSATU to withdraw from that
                                                                                             a Y„~~,^~
                                                                                                         ,yb   ~w   body in October 1991.
                                                                                                                       As of February 1992, the govern-
                                                                                                                    ment seemed reluctant to keep its
                                                                                                                    pledge regarding agricultural workers
                                                                                                                    for fear of massive farmer desertion
                                                                                                                    from the National Party—perhaps
                                                                                                                    hoping to leave this step to an interim
                                                                                                                    government . But Pretoria also feared
                                                                                                                    that failure to extend rights to farm-
                                                                                                                    workers wouldn't go down well with
                                                                                                                    the ILO.
                                                                                                                       Then in early March, new Man-
                                                                                                                    power Minister Piet Marais, in what
                                                                                                                    the South African Weekly Mail termed
                                                                                                                    a "remarkably conciliatory" meeting
                                          `"   :7.stcg
                               G +*tdit        ~ R ~f
                                                         %Mrafc,+ .mu, t
                                                         rt0       w   t            0
                                                                           ~ezd tlkxC [ a
                                                                                                                    with labor, made an about-face and
                                                               .
                                                                                                                    pledged to extend the Basic Condi-
Expanding labor rights to domestic workers, farmworkers and workers in the
homelands is a major goal of COSATU's .                                                                                              Continued on next page

                                                                                                         2
Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora
James H . Bell
        1943-1992
    James H . Bell, a founding sponsor
of the New York Labor Committee
Against Apartheid and a long-time
anti-apartheid activist, died on April 1,
1992, after a year-long battle with lung
cancer . Jim Bell was the Political Ac-
tion Director of District 65 UAW and
the President of the New York chapter
of the Coalition of Black Trade Union-
                   ists . He also served as
                   security director for
                   Jesse Jackson's cam-
                   paign in 1988 and
                   David Dinkins' may-
                   oral campaign in
                    1989.
                       In 1990, Jim coor-
                   dinated Nelson Man-        Jim Bell with Nelson Mandela at City
                   dela's historic New        of New York.
                   York tour . The un-
precedented outpouring of support
for Mandela and the ANC was the
crowning achievement of many years
of anti-apartheid work.
    We will miss Jim dearly . He was
able to visit South Africa in June 1991
to witness the first ANC Congress held
in South Africa since its unbanning,
and he lived long enough to see white
South Africans vote for reform . His
own contribution to the struggle
against injustice will endure much
longer .

Labor Rights
Continued from previous page

tions of Employment Act (BCEA—
much like our NLRA) and the Unem-
ployment Insurance Act to                     COSATU Leaders Face Death Threats . COSATU leaders, among them Moses
farmworkers this spring . Marais also         Mayekiso (pictured here with LCAA Co-Chair Edgar Romney), General Sec-
agreed to an urgent meeting of all par-       retary of NUMSA, and COSATU General Secretary Jay Naidoo, have been
ties to discuss the restructuring of the      under surveillance and have been the target of death threats . The threats are
NMC.                                          one part of the ongoing repression of trade unionists.
    By May 1992, COSATU and
NACTU stated that they would under-           mum wage for piece workers . Some             tivities is inadequate.
take mass action if these and other re-       unemployment insurance is also likely.           Obviously, COSATU and NACTU
forms covering domestic workers and              COSATU points out that this legis-         hope to rectify these shortcomings in
public servants were not effected by          lation still leaves much to be desired . It   the future, but the BCEA reforms
July.                                         fails to protect farmworkers from arbi-       would represent a major gain . And a
    Pressure from farmers to frustrate        trary dismissals ; a broad definition of      restructured, more powerful NMC
reform continues . But BCEA rights            "farming activities" would actually re-       also relates to one of COSATU's major
would likely provide a 48-hour work           duce the coverage given to some now           demands : that there be a National Eco-
week (it's 46 for other workers) and a        regarded as "industrial workers," in-         nomic Negotiating Forum in which
9 .5 hour working day, overtime pay, a        cluding those in processing plants;           government, industry, and labor
ban on employment of children, 14             workers would receive only one                would discuss and plan the shape of
days of annual leave, right to a mini-        month's notice of layoff; and protec-         the economy for post-apartheid South
mum notice of one month, and a mini-          tion against victimization for union ac-      Africa.

                                                                  3
Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora
CROWN CORK CAVES: NUMSA, International...
   With help from the U .S . labor move-   burg, fired its entire union workforce   tember stayaway, to protest apartheid
ment, South African workers won a          after Crown workers supported a Sep-     terrorism and to protect their families
significant victory recently when the      tember 16-17 stayaway against state-     from a rumored Inkatha attack.
Philadelphia-based Crown Cork &            sponsored violence . The company         NUMSA shop stewards alerted the
Seal Company agreed to rehire all 196      then replaced the NUMSA workers          company to the protest, but when the
members of the South African Metal-        with scabs, most of whom supported       workers returned to work, the com-
workers (NUMSA) fired in South Af-         the government-backed Inkatha Free-      pany attempted to discipline them by
rica last September . Until U .S . trade   dom Party (IFP).                         suspending workers on the nightshift.
unionists brought massive pressure to           The NUMSA workers live in the           Fearing for their lives if they left the
bear on the parent company, Crown          Thokoza and Katlehong townships          factory alone in the darkness, the
South Africa was only prepared to dis-
cuss rehiring 10 workers . Unfortu-
nately, just days before Crown Cork
yielded to union pressure and an-             "  You comrades have managed what we term ' valiant con-
nounced its decision to rehire all the        tribution to building fighting internationalism.' Your efforts
workers, a Crown shop steward,                have inspired us and as a living testimony to the good work
David Radebe, was murdered by
Inkatha vigilantes.                           you do (previously unknown to most comrades), our com-
       The Africa Fund spearheaded a          rades here are now putting top on our agenda the issue of re-
campaign in the U .S . to pressure            ciprocating solidarity."
Crown Cork . In February, it brought
NUMSA Regional Secretary Bethuel              —from a letter by NUMSA Regional Secretary Bethuel Maserumule to
Maserumule to the U .S. to meet with          LCAA Co-Chair Edgar Romney
U .S . unionists . Many American Crown
workers are represented by the Ma-
chinists (IAM) and the Steelworkers
(USWA) . Both unions were eager to         east of Johannesburg where over 300      workers requested that the suspen-
help when Maserumule informed              people had been killed or wounded in     sions take place the following morn-
them of Crown Cork's union busting         three weeks of violence beginning Sep-   ing . The company said no and, when
and complicity with apartheid vio-         tember 8 . The attacks included death    the workers refused to leave, charged
lence, and their intervention proved to    squad assassinations, indiscriminate     them with holding an illegal sit-in.
be the key to the successful campaign .    massacres on commuter trains, am-           When the workers protested the
                                           bushes at area factories and armed       suspensions, Crown fired the entire
     Union Busting in Alrode               invasions by hundreds of Inkatha         workforce of 196 union members.
                                           members.
    Crown Cork's wholly owned sub-             Finally, the Crown workers joined                 International
sidiary in Alrode, outside of Johannes-    thousands of other workers in the Sep-              labor Solidarity
                                                                                       NUMSA rallied support both
                                                                                    within South Africa and abroad to
                                                                                    pressure Crown Cork to reconsider . In
                                                                                    the U .S ., trade unionists at all levels
                                                                                    responded to the call for solidarity and
                                                                                    quickly built up momentum.
                                                                                       Machinists and Steelworkers led
                                                                                    the effort . Both USWA Vice President
                                                                                    Leon Lynch and IAM Vice President
                                                                                    George Poulin joined Maserumule in
                                                                                    meetings with Crown Cork manage-
                                                                                    ment, and demanded that the NUMSA
                                                                                    workers be reinstated . IAM members
                                                                                    picketed Crown plant gates and
                                                                                    vowed to take further actions if neces-
                                                                                    sary . Many U .S . unionists saw the dis-
                                                                                    pute as an issue of "permanent
                                                                                    replacements"—an issue all too famil-
                                                                                    iar to American workers.
                                                                                       In Washington, Maserumule met
                                                                                    with AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer
The Africa Fund sponsored a national conference of anti-apartheid labor             William Lucy, who is the national
activists this spring . NUMSA's Bethuel Maserumule and members of LCAA              president of the Coalition of Black
were among those at the two-day meeting .

                                                             4
Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora
.. .Solidarity Beat Back Union Busting Attempts
 Trade Unionists (CBTU) . Local anti-         sues to advance our fight for all to be        William J. Avery, CEO
 apartheid labor committees in Phila-         rehired ."                                     Crown Cork & Seal Com P any
 delphia, Chicago, the Bay area and              To keep the pressure on Crown               9300 Ashton Rd.
 New York mobilized support as well.          Cork, you can write to CEO William             Philadelphia, PA 19136
    In a letter to Crown CEO William          Avery and ask him to promptly rehire           TEL : 215-698-5100
 Avery, New York LCAA Co-Chairs               all the workers . To contact him :             FAX: 215-698-7050
 Stanley Hill, Cleveland Robinson and
 Edgar Romney called "nothing less
                                               While NUMSA Regional Secretary Bethuel Maserumule w as in the United
 than support for the forces of apart-
 heid ." Other LCAA unions sent letters        States to organize support for the Crown Cork workers, he met with
                                               members of the New York Labor Committee Against Apartheid . This inter-
 as well, including District Council 1707
                                               view w as conducted just before he returned to South Africa in mid-March.
 AFSCME, UAW Local 259 and Local
 375 DC 37/ AFSCME.
                                               LCAA : What precipitated the stayaway that led to the firing of the Crown
    Union representatives on the New
                                               Cork workers?
 York State Teachers Retirement Fund,
 the 15th largest shareholder in Crown
                                               Maserumule : We became aware of what seemed to be a well worked-out
 Cork, also protested the company's ac-
                                               strategy to eliminate our union . Our members were repeatedly attacked on
 tions . Labor's friends in Congress, like
 Representatives Ron Dellums and               their way to work . Together with other COSATU affiliates, we decided to
                                               demand from the employers that workers all start work and knock off at
Maxine Waters, promised their help as
 well.                                         the same time so we could travel to work in groups . The employers, while
    Back in South Africa, NUMSA took           not taking any further steps against the violence, permitted this arrange-
                                               ment.
its case to other COSATU affiliates and
                                                  Then the attacks spread to other areas . At the railway stations, thugs
the civic organizations in the black
townships . The union mobilized for a          would take hold of workers' feet and hit their heads against the platform
                                               as the trains were moving away . This became the final blow.
corporate campaign against Crown
                                                  The timing of our stayaway wasn't arbitrary . We were informed by
Cork products—aluminum cans.
                                               police and other sources ofplans to attack us on a certain day . The stayaway
NUMSA made a study of which prod-
                                               was planned so workers could stay home and protect their families.
ucts were packaged in Crown Cork
containers and prepared for a boycott.
                                               LCAA : Did your employers try to combat the violence against their work-
Trucks delivering cold drinks to facto-
                                               force?
ries were turned away by NUMSA
members ; the Transport and General
                                               Maserumule : At first, we were sure that they would . We knew the employ-
Workers' Union (TGWU) supported
NUMSA as well . At Crown Cork, the             ers could command a massive police presence when they wanted to . They
scabs proved incapable of maintaining          could certainly get the police there to attack our strikers and put down our
                                               protests . But, in fact, they did nothing to stem the violence against workers.
production, and the company had to
order large stocks of cans from a com-            In a plant organized by one of our sister unions, Inkatha members
petitor.                                       stormed in and occupied their factory, driving out the union members . The
                                               occupation lasted two weeks . After Inkatha left the factory, they lay in wait
    Faced with a crippling boycott at
                                               to attack the union members . Five members were murdered outside the
home and quickly escalating pressure
                                               factory gates . At no time during the occupation and the murderous attacks
abroad, Crown Cork caved in, agree-
ing to rehire 100 fired workers imme-          that followed did the company call for the police.
                                                  We think Crown Cork and other employers are using the violence as a
diately, followed by a preferential
recall of the remaining 96 . However,          way to get rid of our organization . During the last round of negotiations,
                                               the company complained that union workers were too "expensive ." They
the company has refused to rehire 14
                                               did everything they could to provoke us into a strike . We refused because
workers, claiming they were guilty of
violence during the dispute . These            in South Africa, workers jobs aren't protected even after a legal strike . Then
                                               they used the stayaway as an excuse to get rid of the union.
cases have been submitted to an arbi-
tration procedure.
                                               LCAA : Strikers' jobs aren't protected in the U .S . either.
    In a letter after the settlement to
Edgar Romney, Maserumule declared,
                                               Maserumule : Yes, I've just found out about the UAW strike at Caterpillar.
"We believe it is your mobilization
                                               I've contacted the Caterpillar union in South Africa, where I used to be one
programs that spelled danger to the
                                               of the organizers . The stewards there will protest to the management and
company, resulting in it making the
offer . Obviously the struggle is not yet      demand that Caterpillar accept the contract established by pattern bargain-
                                               ing . The members are also planning a factory demonstration culminating
over until all our members remaining
                                               in a march.
outside are rehired . However, we see
the offer as enabling us to set foot in the       Our members feel that what's happening in the U .S . proves the company
plant to rebuild our organization and          is capable of mistreating workers and they themselves won't be exempt.
help us identify opportunities and is-         Their action of solidarity is viewed from the angle of seeing themselves.

                                                                5
Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora
delivered his new budget plan . It sig-
naling just as loudly that the white
government has no intention of shar-
ing power in the near future.
   Among other austerity measures,
the budget included a 10% Value
Added Tax (VAT) on food, including
milk and rice, in a country where 30%
of all children suffer malnutrition . The
South African unions, led by the
COSATU, had fought hard to keep the
VAT tax off food in 1991 . A November
general strike, the biggest ever in the
country's history, forced the govern-
ment to remove the VAT on most basic
foodstuffs . The new budget's re-intro-
duction of VAT on food was a direct
affront to COSATU.
                                            The violence in South Africa continues to be one of the biggest obstacles to
                                            political freedom.

   The bad news didn't stop there.          on the streets . The violence threatens      funds ; keeping utilities and human
Even before the May deadlock in the         to end all hope for a democratic gov-        services in the public sector ; the na-
CODESA talks, the government had            ernment in South Africa . In the wake        tionalization of key industries like
reneged on a number of agreements           of the Boipatong massacre, it is more        mining and finance ; small enterprise
reached with the ANC.                       obvious than ever that the violence is       promotion ; and even a social accord.
   A series of proposals by DeKlerk         a deliberate tool meant to help main-        Another central concern is estab-
this spring were all designed to keep       tain apartheid . The question now            lishing a collective bargaining struc-
the National Party in power . The final     arises whether the confidence of ANC         ture and labor rights across all sectors
deadlock came over the government's         acitivists and supporters in the nego-       of the workforce.
insistence on a minority veto to block      tiations process can be restored.               COSATU is also breaking new
decisions on a new constitution that                                                     ground for unions worldwide . It is
relate to regional issues.                      The Economic Transition                  proposing that decisions like partici-
   The message was clear : DeKlerk                                                       pation in the international General
was using his white referendum man-            In addition to the program of mass        Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
date as a white veto over the negotiat-     action in the political arena, COSATU        (GATT) require union participation.
ing process . The strategy is to prolong    continues to pursue crucial economic         The federation is further proposing a
the transition for years and reserve the    questions.                                   code of conduct for multinational cor-
most decisive role for the whites now          COSATU and the smaller labor fed-         porations investing in South Africa.
in power.                                   eration NACTU (National Council of              These economic issues are not mar-
   This strategy is coupled with the        Trade Unions) are raising economic           ginal to the democratic future of South
ever-escalating political violence          demands for the transition from apart-       Africa . The apartheid system has pro-
against leaders and activists in the        heid, recognizing that political restruc-    duced a terrible legacy of deprivation
democratic movement . The Boipatong         turing alone will not bring justice to       and the greatest degree of inequ ality of
massacre is only the latest and most        South Africa's black majority.               any country in the world . Blacks, who
shocking instance of a pattern that has        The central demand is for a Na-           comprise 87% of the population, share
persisted throughout the DeKlerk re-        tional Economic Negotiating Forum,           only 11% of the national income . In
gime . Last year alone, over 2,500 peo-     joining labor, business and govern-          South Africa today, there are 20 mil-
ple were killed in acts of political        ment to work out transitional eco-           lion people dispossessed from their
violence . The DeKlerk government           nomic policies . The business                land, 7 million homeless, 16 million
has been repeatedly directly impli-         community has agreed to join the Fo-         living below subsistence levels, and
cated in funding as well as arming and      rum . But the government is again            50% unemployed.
training the Inkatha Freedom Party          holding out and proceeding unilater-            Undoing the apartheid system will
(IFP), instigators of much of the vigi-     ally with the privatization of public        take an incredible effort . The unions
lante violence against the ANC and          services, special deals for corpora-         are prepared to continue the fight on
COSATU.                                     tions, and its austerity budget.             every front, from the workplace and
   While one hand of the DeKlerk re-           Among the many issues at stake are        the community to the national negoti-
gime pushes paper at the negotiating        job creation ; fair taxation ; investment;   ating table and the streets.
table, the other wields a club of terror    productivity ; pension and provident
Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora
labor Briefs                                                                   Solidarity is a
                               Sanctions Update                                                                Two-way Street:
   The tripartite alliance of the ANC,               South Africa . This means that U .S . gov-                 South Africans Support
COSATU and the SACP has continued                    ernment agencies can now provide fi-                        Caterpillar Workers
to call for the maintenance of economic              nancial and technical assistance to
and financial sanctions against South                companies doing business in South Af-                    This spring the stand-off between
Africa until a representative interim                rica.                                                striking UAW workers and the Cater-
government is in place . So long as the                 State and local ordinances restrict-             pillar Company grew into the most
architects of apartheid are in power,                ing trade with the apartheid state,                 important labor struggle in the United
they argue, the pressure of interna-                 however, remain in place . Of the 150               States . At the height of the conflict in
tional sanctions are needed to force the             local and state governments with anti-              March, South African workers took ac-
government to negotiate.                             apartheid ordinances, only the state of             tions to support their striking Ameri-
   Western governments, however,                     Oregon and Fairfax, VA have repealed                can brothers and sisters.
are rapidly abandoning sanctions in                  their sanctions laws . In the wake of the                Workers at Caterfp-illar's South Af-
order to "reward" DeKlerk for his re-                federal abandonment of pressure, lo-                rican plant are represented by
form gestures . The European Commu-                  cal sanctions have taken on a tremen-               NUMSA . On March 20, the shop stew-
nity lifted most of its sanctions in 1991,           dously important role . They are now                ard on every shift delivered a strongly
and in April 1992, lifted its oil embargo            the major impediment to private in-                 worded protest of Caterpillar's treat-
against South Africa as well . The                   vestment in South Africa.                           ment of its U .S . workers to the plant
United States lifted most sanctions in                  The South African government                     manager . A NUMSA representative
July 1991, just eight days before Preto-             seems to agree, for its U .S . embassy in           came to the strike rally in Peoria, Illi-
ria admitted to funding Inkatha's vio-               Washington has been engaged in an                   nois on March 22 . In the following
lent campaign against democratic                     extensive campaign to convince local                week, the South African Caterpillar
forces.                                              governments to repeal sanctions . So                workers staged two consecutive one-
   In February 1992, the U .S . lifted the           far, it has been rebuffed at every turn.            hour walk-outs and picketed the plant.
Export-Import Bank restrictions on                                                                            NUMSA's actions came at a critical

                           American Cyanamid                                                             time when U .S . workers are under
                                                                                                         siege . They also reflect growing inter-
                                                                                                         national labor ties among unions rep-
    In January, anti-apartheid activists            Africans and Americans to change Cy-
                                                                                                         resenting workers at the same
from New Jersey and New York in-                    anamid's labor and environmental
                                                                                                         company in different countries.
ducted the American Cyanamid Com-                   policies . For Cyanamid's South Afri-
pany into the "Corporate Hall of                    can workers, represented by the
Shame" for its continuing bad labor                 Chemical Workers' Industrial Union
and environmental record in South Af-               (CWIU), the main issue has been con-
rica and the United States.                         trol over the company's pension fund.
     About 50 people gathered at the                CWIU is seeking a multi-employer
municipal complex in Wayne, New                     provident fund that would allow
Jersey, the township where Cyanamid                 workers to take a lump- sum payment
has its world headquarters, on January              if they leave the company.
17, to let Cyanamid's neighbors know                     In addition, Cyanamid's environ-
about its practices.                                mental practices have jeopardized
      The protest was just the latest               communities in both the United States
round in a four-year struggle by South              and South Africa .                                   Over 20,000 people attended the rally
                                                                                                         in Peoria on March22.

             LCAA Sponsors
Co-Chairs : Stanley Hill, Exec. Dir., DC 37, AFSCME; Cleveland Robinson, Sec.-Treas ., District 65, UAW ; Edgar Romney, Exec.Vice Pres., ILGWU

Lou Albano, Pres., Local 375, DC 37, AFSCME; George Boncoraglia, Pres ., CSEA Region II ; Jim Bell, Pres ., NY Coalition of Black Trade Unionists;
Tim Butler, Pres., Local 420, DC 37 ; Arthur Cheliotes, Pres ., CWA Local 1180; Mark Dudzic, Pres ., Local 8-149, OCAW ; Charles Ensley, Pres., Local
371, DC 37 ; Barry Feinstein, Pres ., IBT, Local 237 ; Beverly Gans, Sub-regional Dir., Region 9A, UAW John Glasel, Pres ., Local 802, AFM ; Sonny Hall,
Pres., Local 100, TWU ; Bill Henning, Vice Pres ., CWA, Local 1180 ; Dan Kane, Pres ., IBT, Local 111 ; Josephine LeBeau, Vice Pres ., NYS CLUW;
Barry Liebowitz, Pres ., Doctors Council ; Ray Markey, Pres., Local 1930, DC 37 ; Josie McMillian, Pres ., Metro Area Postal Workers Union, APWU;
Sam Meyers, Pres ., Local 259, UAW ; Henry Nicholas, Pres ., Nat . Union of Hospital & Health Care Employees ; William Nuchow, Sec-Treas .,
IBT Local 840; Jan Pierce, Vice Pres . for Dist. 1, CWA ; Dennis Rivera, Pres ., Local 1199 ; Bettye Roberts, Pres., DC 1707, AFSCME ; John Ronches, Exec.
Dir., Committee of Interns and Residents ; Ray Rogers, Dir., Corporate Campaign, Inc . ; Willie Terry, Pres ., Local 460, CSEA ; Ida Torres, Vice Pres.,
RWDSU Local 3 ; Laura Unger, Pres., Local 1150, CWA.

Coordinators : Bill Henning and Marion Pitts

                                                                           7
Negotiations Suspended As Violence Escalates - Kora
Join Us!
    New Sponsors,                                The New York                          Educational Videos
   New Coordinator                              Labor Committee                            Available
                                                Against Apartheid
      for LCAA                                                                       Three new videos about South Africa
                                                                                     are available for education, outreach
    In 1991, three new labor leaders        Name                                     and meetings.
joined LCAA as sponsors . We are                                                        Hlanganani : A Short History of
pleased to welcome Marc Dudzig, the         Address                                  COSATU (30 mins .) utilizes COSATU
President of OCAW Local 8-149;                                                       leaders and members to relate the con-
                                            Phone
Sonny Hall, the President of TWU Lo-                                                 ditions and events that helped forge
cal 100 ; Ray Markey, President of Local    Union or Organization                    COSATU . They also critique their own
 1930, DC 37, AFSCME ; and Laura                                                     activities and make projections for the
Unger, the President of CWA Local                                                    future . Hlanganani is produced by
 1150.                                       (checks payable to NYLCAA)              Video News Service in association
    In January 1992, Marion Pitts joined                                             with COSATU.
LCAA as the new staff Co-Coordina-          MAIL TO : LCAA                              Fighting for Change: Women Facing
tor . Marion has been active in the anti-              c/o Local 23-25               the Challenge of a New South Africa
apartheid movement since the 1980's,                   ILGWU                         (30 mins .) shows black South African
when she was a leader of the successful                275 Seventh Ave.              women of all classes and varied occu-
divestment effort at Rutgers Univer-                       New York, NY 10001        pations who live in rural areas, town-
sity . She was Deputy Security Coordi-                                               ships and cities . These women face the
nator for the Nelson Mandela New            YES, SIGN ME UP                          triple oppressions of race, class and
York visit and worked on the Sun City       q Newsletter mailing list ($5/yr.)       gender, and they are implementing
Project with the Africa Fund in 1986 . In   q Bulk copies of newsletter              programs to help themselves . The
addition, she has worked with New             ($25 per 100 -- indicate #)            video is produced by Globalvision.
York City unions in other coalitions,       q "Labor Solidarity" buttons                Stop the Violence (14 mins .) graphi-
including the April 30, 1991, demon-          (buttons are $1 each)                  cally show s the perpetrators of the cur-
stration against New York State             q Contact me for LCAA activities         rent political violence and their
budget cuts.                                q Contact me to arrange an educational   victims . Dumisani Kumalo, Projects
    Marion works for LCAA on Mon-             program at my local/organization       Director of the Africa Fund, introduces
days and Wednesdays at the commit-          q Donation to LCAA . $                   the video and recommends action that
tee's new headquarters at ILGWU                                                      can be taken to help stop the violence.
Local 23-25 . You can reach her at                                                   Stop the Violence is produced by the
(212)929-2600.                                                                       Africa Fund.
    Kate Pfordresher, who led LCAA as
Co-Coordinator for four years, is now
                                               Save the Date!                           Hlanganani and Stop the Violence are
a Business Representative for Local                                                  available for $20 each from the Africa
                                              November 14-16, 1992
375, DC 37/ AFSCME . She continues to                                                Fund, 198 Broadway, New York, NY
be active in the committee's work .         ANC Support Conference                    10038, (212)962-1210 ; please add 15%
                                                                                     for postage and handling . Fighting for
                                                                                     Change is available for $75, plus $5 for
                                              The conference will provide            postage and handling, from Globalvi-
                                              an important opportunity for           sion, 215 Park Ave . South, New York,
                                               US anti-apartheid activists           NY 10003, (212)260-2022.
                                             to meet with members of the                LCAA also owns a copy of each
                                             ANC leadership, to strengthen           video . If your union is interested in
                                                ties and discuss future              arranging an educational meeting
                                                    solidarity efforts.              with LCAA to show one of the videos,
                                                                                     please contact Marion Pitts at Local
                                                                                     23-25.
   Marion Pitts

   SHOW YO UR SO U DA RITY! WEAR YOUR SOUDAR1Y!
   Buy a T-Shirt supporting the Paper, Printing,
   Wood and Allied Workers' Uinon.
    nAll union-made, 50/ 50 cotton/ polyester, gold shirts.
    nWith the distinctive red, green and black PPWAWU logo.

   To order, please send $13 per shirt to:
   UPIU, Special Projects Dept ., P .O . Box 1475, Nashville, TN 37202
   Please Specify Large, )(Large )()(Large

                                                                8
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