As the Workers and Socialist Party, we stand in solidarity with workers at Rua Con facing brutal attacks by their employer. Rua Con, a waste management company specializing in hazardous waste clean-up, reportedly has a history of targeting workers that decide to join trade unions. The company has now embarked on a campaign against GIWUSA members, dismissing workers at will. It is unacceptable for a company rendering a service to the state to flaunt the most basic labour laws including the right to freedom of association. Such actions show that the company’s management is afraid of workers organizing themselves to fight for decent working conditions. We will stand with these workers in their struggle against the victimization of trade union members.
In addition to an end to union bashing at Rua Con, we demand an end to outsourcing. The city of Tshwane uses labour outsourced from companies such as Rua Con, which then moves to exploit workers. As Marxists, we understand that employers derive their profits from the surplus value produced by workers. Capitalists exploit workers in several ways, such as denying workers a living wage. Furthermore, capitalists encourage divisions and competition among workers.
Capitalists fear united and organized workers because it leads to a united working class, the only force that can change society. We call on all working class forces, including the leadership of organized labour, to fight against this trade union victimization.
South Africa recorded its highest levels of unemployment figures in 2021. There are millions of workers looking for employment making it easier for employers to mistreat their workers. Instead of using wealth to improve the living standards for all, the capitalist system ensures that inequality persists. This system is not sustainable, we need an alternative that will serve the interests of the working class.
The struggle of the workers at Rua Con is a mirror of struggles experienced by many workers across the country. Many workers have been suffering in silence, but it is possible to win major victories if we take a united approach to fighting the struggles faced by workers, communities and the youth. Only a revolutionary program can guide the working class to victory.
We demand an end to outsourcing at Rua Con and other companies rendering public services. All workers must be directly employed as public sector workers, with a living wage, job security and benefits. However, achieving this would only be temporary. There can never be sufficient compromises within the capitalist framework that would liberate the majority of oppressed people, both in South Africa and across the world. The only solution is for the working class to push towards taking the commanding heights of the economy under democratic control. This fight starts at the company-level. Clover workers, for example, are currently leading the way in their demand to nationalise Clover under worker and community control.
Democratic worker’s control, as a step towards a socialist world, is the only alternative that can ensure that the wealth produced by society benefits the vast majority of people and not just the bosses. To achieve this, we ultimately must unite the struggles of workers, communities, and the youth under the banner of a mass workers party on a soocialist programme.
Only socialism means freedom!
