Experts hail BOFEPUSU charter
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday May 28, 2021 19:38
FRANCISTOWN: When launching the charter, president of BOFEPUSU, Johannes Tshukudu explained that not only is the instrument about the relationship between trade unions in Botswana and the government, but it is a document that discusses a wide range of political, social and economic factors that affect various actors.
Social scientists, especially trade unionism experts are of the view that democracy is based on a broad range of interventions and dialogues that sustain a more civic and open set of relations between competing interests in the economy.
A public policy analyst at the University of Botswana (UB) in the Department of Political Science and Public Administrative Studies, Adam Mfundisi, says that the BOFEPUSU charter has implications on the future trajectory of politics in Botswana.
Mfundisi said: “There is declining power of trade unions in the global space due to economic, technological, social, and political factors. Globalisation has been an assault on trade union power. The Covid-19 pandemic has also added to problems of workers. By crafting the Workers’ Charter, BOFEPUSU has realised the need to be relevant as well as articulating the needs, aspirations, priorities, of the working class amid numerous challenges in the 21st century.”
The charter, Mfundisi explained, has a wide scope which would pose a problem to political parties across the political divide to infuse the ideals into their 2024 general elections manifestos.
“It covers conflicting, contrasting, and contradictory expectations which political parties would find hard to reconcile. There are various implications of the charter to the political discourse in Botswana. BOFEPUSU wants to entrench its foothold in the political landscape of Botswana more than ever. To comprehensively package internal, national, and international issues in the Charter is a gigantic exercise which should be celebrated,” said Mfundisi.
He added: “I want to emphatically state that some of the ideals may not be applicable but the federation is sending a strong message to the political elite. It wants to be recognised as a formidable political force.
But with the erosion of trade union power in Botswana, the core issues articulated in the charter may be a mirage. The power of the workers in Botswana in the last general elections is inconclusive.”
While some credit BOFEPUSU for having played a critical role in the 2014 general election by mobilising workers to vote for the UDC, Mfundisi is of the opinion that BOFEPUSU has not been able to intensively and extensively mobilise the working class to fully participate in the electoral process and vote as a block.
“Lack of political consciousness among trade union members is indictment to trade union power in Botswana. BOFEPUSU provides a natural structure for electoral mobilisation of workers to avoid political capture particularly by the dominant political party, the BDP, which has been in power since 1966. Trade unions when effectively constituted can become political machines and their members political brokers,” he elucidated. Mfundisi further stated that trade union members have strong proximity and affinity to citizens and are responsible for the provision of regulatory, distributive and redistributive services. These broad range of public services, Mfundisi posited, indirectly and directly affect the livelihoods of citizens.
He also added that BOFEPUSU has not derailed from its core mandate by warning political parties that they will be committing political suicide if they fail to infuse the charter in their 2024 general election manifestos.
“BOFEPUSU has become a major trade union federation pursuing both the interests of its members and the general population.
Trade unions are political actors influencing and demanding government to make public policies that promote the interests of workers as well as those of the people. Unions are a microcosm of society within which they operate and therefore cannot be divorced from socio-economic and political developments,” he said. Organised labour, the UB academic explained, has pressurised government to enact pro-worker policies and legislations. “Trade unions’ participation in political space is a global phenomenon and therefore, BOFEPUSU is not an exception to the rule. Trade unions in Botswana have a long history of political engagement albeit muted from the 1960s. The engagement of trade unions and political parties is not a new phenomenon. The culmination of the charter is a bold decision by the union leadership and must be supported by all democratic forces in Botswana. Therefore, it is my considered view, without contradictions, that BOFEPUSU has not derailed from its core mandate of pursuing the interests of the working class,” said Mfundisi.
He added: “The working class is a microcosm of society and therefore cannot be divorced from politics. The ruling party may be the one perpetuating this narrative of dichotomy of politics and trade unionism. It is a fallacy of great proportion because trade unions are part of the political development of Botswana. The Constitution of Botswana provides for the freedom of association which in part allows trade unions to fully engage in politics.”
The BDP, Mfundisi notes, aims to dissuade trade unions from associating with opposition political parties to weaken their political influence.
“Democratic consolidation requires trade unions to actively participate in socio-economic and political development. A vibrant democracy is anchored upon strong labour unions and strong political parties,” he said.
Quizzed about the fact that the BOFEPUSU charter articulates nothing new because over the years, the BDP and opposition parties have been addressing issues that the union raises in its manifestos, Mfundisi said: “It is true that opposition political parties, moreso, the UDC has over the years crafted manifestos that were seemingly pro-labour. We should applaud the leadership of BOFEPUSU for the development of Workers’ Charter amplifying the plight of labour as well as national issues.” This consolidated document, Mfundisi stated, should be regarded as a base for national dialogue on organised labour and trade unionism.. “Political parties must engage trade unions to understand the dynamic and complexity of the environment within which workers operate and the resolutions thereof. The charter should not be an end but a means to a national dialogue on pertinent issues affecting the trade union movement. BOFEPUSU should further engage other smaller trade unions to present a formidable force to reckon with to political parties,” Mfundisi elaborated. He further said: “In the absence of trade union unity, the charter may not be fully realised. Political parties have always flirted with trade unions. But coming up with a comprehensive document containing fundamental ideals and strategies, BOFEPUSU has raised the bar for political parties to adapt their manifestos to accommodate them.”
Asked about his view regarding the fact that over the years, the BDP has failed to honour its electoral pledges after winning elections, the latest examples being its failure to resuscitate the Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC), enact the Freedom of Information Act, repeal the Media Practitioners Act and review of the Constitution amongst others, vis-à-vis the charter, Mfundisi said: “The BDP promised to resuscitate the PSBC in its 2019 manifesto. This is not amazing as the BDP government reneged on many promises contained in its manifesto.”
Mfundisi added: “It has become customary for the current government to talk but fail to ‘walk the talk’. We have a leadership that has weak moral compass. There is a combination of narcissism and Machiavellianism in the current regime displaying ego, self-entitlement and manipulative behaviour. This is the type of leadership that perceive voters as gullible and stupid and therefore cannot demand accountability from it.” An expert in labour law at the University of South Africa (UNISA), Professor Mpfariseni Budeli echoed Mfundisi’s sentiments. In an abstract paper entitled, “Trade unionism and politics in Africa: the South African experience”, Budeli said: “An apolitical trade unionism in Africa and the world in general remains a fallacy. In many African countries, trade unions have been playing an important political role since the end of one-party rule and the establishment of new constitutional and democratic orders.” Mfundisi and Budeli’ sentiments are also expressed by Professor Miguel Martinez Lucio and Dr Andy Hodder. Lucio is a Professor of International Human Resources and Comparative Industrial Relations at The University of Manchester while Hodder is a Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations at Birmingham University Business School. On the issue of democracy and trade unions, the duo said: “Trade unions are organisations that have been central to the economic and social fabric of society by representing the interests of workers on a range of issues such as wages and working conditions. They are vital to the project of extending the voice and influence of workers into the realms of industry and the economy ore broadly. A society calling itself a democracy cannot be seen as being advanced or more developed if the notion of democracy itself is not extended, in some form or another, into the economy and the diverse spheres we populate as citizens.”
Political systems that are normally considered to be more democratic, generally speaking, tend to be those that facilitate robust industrial relations systems and independent trade unionism: enshrining the right to independent representation at work even within their constitutional mechanisms, the pundits elucidated.
“Yet trade unions also play a direct role in relation to the state by creating a political dialogue and negotiation on key social and economic matters (for example, the development of health and safety legislation). It is also not unknown for trade unions to have been pivotal to a range of democratic transitions through the politics of mobilisation and representation such as that of Spain in the 1970s as it emerged from a dictatorship,” they said.
Furthermore, the experts said, “trade unions tend to have an indirect democratising influence as well. The role of trade unions as spaces where workers discuss, and decide on a range of workplace and national issues means that they are central to the development of active citizenship.”