It had to be the General Workers Union to bring us all to our senses and remind us of what could happen when extreme capitalism rears its ugly head. The GWU’s raison d’être has always been, needless to say, to safeguard workers’ rights. Over the years this has come to mean all sorts of rights and duties. From the protection of wages to the proper delineation of working hours. Some have opined of late that, to a certain extent, the necessity of having unions is debatable. This is a flawed argument. Unions are there to stay and their intervention is becoming all the more necessary in a world where values have gone out the window.
It is a fact that some things may have changed for the better. The idea of being employed in the same job for life with the same company is no longer a given. The sense of job security has gone out of the window. Our sense of financial security has also declined due to recent worldwide events and locally. What has not changed is the necessity of having strong unions fighting continually for their members’ rights. I shudder at the thought of unions calling it a day. I shudder at the thought of what would happen to workers’ rights in this scenario.
The report published by the GWU on immigrant workers is an eye-opener in many ways. In the first place it indicates quite simply that the GWU is continually in the process of keeping up to date with events. Secondly, with this report the GWU has once more placed itself at the helm in defence of workers’ rights. Thirdly, and possibly more importantly, it has placed itself four-square behind immigrant workers, which is provoking much opinion. However, the GWU has made is clear in this report that an abused worker, wherever he may come from, will always find solace within the union. There is no distinction here. The intention is always one and the same: to ensure respect for the rights of workers irrespective of race or colour.
The report itself makes a number of statements that are direct and in many respects bold. Firstly, the report highlights that one of the GWU’s fundamental principles is the creation of a just society. The GWU also insists that each and every individual has to be allowed the opportunity to advance in his life. The report then moves on to indicate measures it feels need to be taken to safeguard the rights of immigrant workers at their place of work. The GWU highlights a number of measures that can be taken in this regard. Foremost among them are:
• A Working Group should be set up to take stock of the situation and organise a national conference on the matter, which conference will identify the measures to be taken.
• The GWU will ensure that foreign workers will be organised in such a manner to avoid their being abused. This will be done within a collective framework.
• The GWU must be notified immediately when any incidents arise involving these workers.
• The GWU will identify the manner in which the individual talents of these workers can be used to the benefit of our society. In this regard it is expected that known employers take the high moral ground and refuse to mistreat these workers. When employers abuse these workers by employing them under unacceptable conditions the name and shame principle should be employed.
• Fines imposed on employers are to be harsh.
The reasoning behind these conclusions is simple. In the first place it is amply clear that the government is handling the whole matter is a very lacklustre way. Secondly, and more importantly, it is unacceptable that in this day and age there are workers in our country who are being abused. It is high time that the debate on this matter centres also on the abuse of these immigrants.
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