LETTER: Selfish unionised workers

As Mary Papayya reports, the strikes at Transnet expose the vast inequality between labour and employers (“Workers spurn Transnet latest offer, vow to go on with strike”, October 16). But not in the way you may think.     

While it is trendy to lament the plight of the poor working class, SA is in constant crisis due to the selfishness and overpowering influence of organised labour. Unions serve an important function in a market economy by protecting the rights of members. But SA labour unions go beyond this. They participate actively in politics and dominate policy-making.

While the stereotype is of big business making back-room deals with politicians to inform policy, the fact of the matter in SA is that big trade unions openly and secretly draft legislation that benefits them and their members — to the detriment of the country as a whole.

The Transnet strike threatens to destroy SA’s key logistics and infrastructure, causing a knock-on effect that will lead to untold strife, rising prices and supply shortages. All for a wage hike that is unaffordable and unrealistic.

But this is par for the course for organised labour in SA. There is no thought about reality, or grace, or about one’s fellow man. No thought is given to the unemployed, to the non-unionised, to starving families. All that matters is an unrealistic bargain that brings companies to their knees, chases away investors and increases unemployment.

There was a time when labour was abused. It is not now. In SA we live under the thumb of capricious and selfish workers who can bring the country to its knees for just a few extra bucks.

Nicholas Woode-Smith
Cape Town

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