Trade union responses to state enterprise restructuring and privatisation.
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Date
1998
Authors
Jardine, Conrad Joseph
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Abstract
With the advent of democracy, COSATU took a leading role in
the contestation of public policy. It soon saw itself caught
between the tension of cooperating with a democratic
government whilst attempting to resist policies not in line with
its socialist vision. The purpose of this study was to critically
appraise trade union responses to state asset restructuring
and privatisation. COSATU in general accepted the
privatisation of non-essential enterprises and services,
rejected the privatlsation of essential services like water and
electricity and called for the strategic nationalisation of
essential services like housing and health. They have shown
an appreciation of government's arguments, but government
has not taken the concern of unions into consideration. The
findings reveal quite a high level of pessimism and uncertainty
amongst unions with respect to the pragmatic position of
COSATU and the equivocation on the part of government to
allow space for the contestation of prlvatisation policy.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management,
University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Management
(in the field of Public and Development Management).
Keywords
Privatization -- South Africa., Labor unions -- South Africa.