Workers Solidarity
Magazine of the
Workers Solidarity Federation
Against Racism, Women's Oppression, Capitalism
and The State:
For Revolutionary Trade Unionism, Workers
Control and International Libertarian Socialism
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This index is for issues before
1999, here are the 1999
issues
South Africa's transition goes sour
Revolutionary Trade Unionism: Road to Workers Freedom!
Across the world May Day is ours!
Phantsi nge"Free" Market! (Away with the "Free
Market")
The poor must take back the land
Focus on the unions
Volume 4 - Number 2
- Fourth Quarter 1998
Revolutionary Trade
Unionism:
Road to Workers Freedom!
Extra long issue: Volume 4 - Number 1 - First Quarter 1998
- Editorial: Unite the Workers'
Struggle!
We need to unite the workers struggles in our region. We need to
mobilise our unions in solidarity with each other, resisting the
bosses' onslaught.
- What we believe
Society is divided into two main groups- the working class and the
tiny ruling class. The two classes are locked in a class war
- Peter Mokaba attacks socialism
We expect anti-socialist talk from racist bosses who lived off our
sweat and blood under the apartheid regime. But it is still a
shock to hear the same nonsense from the mouth of a comrade who
fought in the struggle
- The Basic Conditions of
Employment Act
The Basic Conditions of Employment Bill was passed as an Act of
Parliament on 7 November
- Mobilise against job
losses
Jobs in the manufacturing sector fell by almost 4% since June last
year despite growth in manufacturing output this year
- Workers organise general
strikes for decent working conditions
Millions of workers' supported COSATU's call for a week of rolling
mass action starting August 18 to demand changes to the Basic
Conditions of Employment Bill
- Defend, consolidate,
advance!
2,300 worker delegates attended the Congress of SA Trade Unions
6th National Congress in September 1997
- Class Struggles in Africa
- Swaziland: phambili
basebenzi!
The pro-democracy movement has lead to open street battles
between demonstrators and the Royal Swazi Police, to detention
and beating of unionists and human rights activists, to a media
blackout, to brave acts of sabotage and to two successful
general strikes this year!
- Zambian workers and poor
under attack
In Zambia, the working class is being brutally attacked by the
twin forces of capitalism and imperialism. Wages are falling,
education and health are being cut back, food prices are
increasing, and at least 100,000 jobs have been lost in the
1990s
- Mass revolt in
Zimbabwe
Mass action has shaken the ruling class headed by Robert
Mugabe. The general strike of 9 December 1997, called by the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) paralysed the country
and was the most successful since Independence in 1980
- Defend COMSA union at
UDW
The Combined Staff Association at the University of
Durban-Westville is under attack. COMSA is a militant
independent union that organises 70% of workers and staff at
UDW
- Explosive union growth in
Southern Africa
Trade unions in South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe are among
the fastest growing in the world
- Kenya: the resistance
grows
In October 1997, striking Kenyan teachers won their wage
demands. 1997 has also been a key year for the struggle
against Kenya's billionaire dictator, Daniel Arap Moi
- International unions
launch campaign to free jailed Nigerian worker
militants
The ICEM has launched a campaign against Nigerian oil
exports aimed at winning the release of two Nigerian
union militants
- Libertarian socialist (Anarcho-Syndicalist) Q & A:
- What causes women's
oppression?
The root of women's oppression lies in the division of society
into classes. Women's oppression is in the direct interest of
capitalism and the State
- How can we organise to end
women's oppression?
We fight against women's oppression. We fight for workers
unity. An injury to one is an injury to all. Only through
libertarian socialism can women be truly freed, as the causes
of women's oppression will be removed
- Libertarian socialist (Anarcho-Syndicalist) History
- The ANC and the South African
White Right in Mozambique
The Mosagrius agreement between President Nelson Mandela and
Mozambique's President Joaquin Chissano has opened the door for
the white right to exploit Mozambican peasants
- Growing dissatisfaction with ANC
government
An HSRC survey has found widespread dissatisfaction with the
ANC-lead government
- Class struggles in Asia
- International Libertarian socialist (Anarcho-Syndicalist)
News
- COSATU accuses!
The key motive for Apartheid was the "perpetuation of a
super-exploitative cheap labour system"
- Do immigrants cause
crime?
Although the media and the police paint immigrants as evil
criminals, the facts show that immigrants are hardly ever involved
in crime
- SA dockers join international
day of action
In South Africa, thousands of workers attended a mass rally in
Durban, and there was a national day of port action in support of
dockers' struggles in Australia and Liverpool.
- Mass retrenchments by Mzi
Khumalo's JCI
More than 4,100 workers face retrenchments at the hands of JCI
- PAC leader says "ban the trade
unions"
The PAC is sometimes seen as a radical alternative to ANC
- Readers'letter
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Across the world May Day is ours!
Volume 3 Number 2 Second Quarter 1997 (April- June)
- Editorial
This issue is dedicated to the spirit and ideals of May Day
- Has the ANC sold
out?|
Since taking office, the African National Congress has broken key
promises to the Black working class and poor who elected it
- COSATU on the move
10,000 workers joined a Congress of South African Trade Unions
rally in Johannesburg on March 25
- A world to win!
International anarchist/syndicalist News
- After the collapse of Marxism:Is there
an alternative to capitalism
today?
Key elements of the socialist tradition are in irrevocable crisis.
What we need to do is to reclaim and identify with the tradition
of anti-authoritarian, anti-State, socialism from below
- Origins of Mayday
The origins of May Day lie in the struggles of the
Anarcho-syndicalist movement. This fact is conveniently hidden by
the history books
- Low pay in South Africa
100 years ago our comrades were murdered for fighting for workers
power. But the evils they resisted then are still alive today
- Why do we oppose capitalism
and the state?
We oppose capitalism and the State because they are tools
used by the ruling class of bosses, military leaders and top
government officials to exploit and rule the rest of us
- Why class struggle and
revolution from below?
Successful class struggle requires the mobilisation of as many
people and strata of the working class as possible
- Swaziland: general strike for
democracy
On March 2, the 83,000-strong Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions
(SFTU) ended an incredible 28 general strike after the government
released four imprisoned union leaders
- Bengu tricks students
1997 has been rocked by country- wide student protest- against
racism, exclusion of the poor, and the government's plans to
drastically cut subsidies to the universities and technikons
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WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PROMISED CHANGES?
In the run up to the 1994 elections, the ANC promised, among other
things, free and compulsory education for the first ten years. It
promised more schools, books and teachers for all children. In a
famous speech, Mandela stated: "Young lions of South Africa go to
school and arm yourself with education, for it will be a necessity
for the country's future". Inequalities affecting the poor in
education were mentioned as a priority. But ANC has changed its party
line. The current education reforms will worsen the inequalities of
the past:
Phantsi nge "Free" Market! (Away with the
"Free Market")
Volume 3 Number 1 First Quarter 1997 (Jan- March)
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The poor must take back the land
(Volume 2, Number 2, Third Quarter 1996)
- Editorial
The land question is a burning issue relevant to millions of poor
and working- class Black people. We say: don't wait for the
government! The poor must seize the land.
- Solidarity With
Immigrants
Last year alone 157,084 people were deported from South Africa.
These people lost their homes, their jobs, their belonging.
Families were split up.
- The Poor Must Take Back The
Land
The land question will be the site of massive struggle in the
future. Since 1652, the colonial and apartheid governments have
dispossessed the indigenous people of the land in favour of rich
White farmers
- Struggle for Free and
Democratic Education Continues
During the first 6 months of this year we have seen students from
all over the country take up the battle against their
administrations
- International Anarchist
News:
- Anarchist Students Jailed In Greece
- Anarchist Students Win in Australian Election
- Swedish Trade Union Stays Anarchist- Syndicalist
- Repression Against German Anti- Fascists
- Anarchist Report From Lebanon.
- Understanding and Defeating
Racism
Racism developed alongside capitalism and the modern State since
these emerged 500 years ago. It justified the conquest, slaughter
and enslavement of indigenous people in the Americas, Asia and
Africa
- Anarchist Anti- Racism in
Action
The theorist- activist founders of Anarchist Syndicalism were
anti- racist revolutionaries
- A New World In Their
Hearts
The 19th of July marked the 60th Anniversary of the Spanish
Revolution. For a brief time, capitalism and the State was
replaced by solidarity, mutual aid, and respect for others
- Women in The Spanish
Revolution
- Women's Liberation and Anarchism:
A Complementary Partnership
- Working and Poor Women Unite
Against Oppression
- Call For Solidarity: Writer,
Unionist In Nigerian Prison
- Are Employed Workers and Unions
an "Elite" ?
- International War Against the
Poor
- Why I Am An Anarchist
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Focus on the unions
(Volume 2, Number 1, First Quarter 1996)
Subscriptions and
bookservice
Number 1 May/June 1995
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bookservice
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