Impact of 2008 global financial crisis on workers at Ford in South Africa
Date
2011-08-11
Authors
Chinguwo, Paliani
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Neo-liberal globalization has caused fundamental changes in the world of work. This has led to
among others, job losses and erosion of union power. The actual origin of the 2008 Global
Financial crisis was the crises of over accumulation and over production experienced in the
1970s by capitalist countries of North America and Western Europe. These crises were
eventually fixed by financialisation of capital which is a key feature of neo-liberal globalization.
This study sought to examine the impact of 2008 Global Financial crisis on workers at Ford
Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) in South Africa. Using the qualitative research
methods i.e. interviews and document analysis, the study focused on the workers at Silverton
Assembly plant in Pretoria as a case study. The study reveals that as a response to the 2008
Global Financial crisis which had caused a decline of profitability as a result of the fall in
demand of exports and export prices, FMCSA intensified the restructuring of production and
introduced new work patterns at Silverton Assembly plant. The consequences of this include
over work, loss and reduction of wages among others.
At national level, National Union of Metal workers in South Africa (NUMSA) responded to the
impact of 2008 Global Financial crisis by proposing various policy options which are seemingly
reformist according to the pessimistic view of trade unionism. Conspicuously missing from
NUMSA’s response, is an explicit accentuation for a robust socialist transformation from the
current political economy in line with its goal of socialism. Nevertheless, from an optimistic
view of trade unionism, the study concludes that the occurrence of the 2008 Global Financial
crisis was not a missed opportunity for NUMSA as it may be argued by proponents of the
pessimistic view of trade unionism