Cosatu Women's Voices on Trade Union Politics: Reflecting on Women's Political Attitudes in the Cosatu Survey

This paper aims to reflect on Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) women’s political attitudes based on the three (2004, 2008 and 2014) sets of data from the Taking Democracy Seriously: COSATU Workers’ Surveys. It highlights women’s opinions on issues such as the tripartite alliance (which includes COSATU, the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP)) and COSATU’s unconditional support for the ANC. Analyses of these political issues are often conducted in gender neutral terms, with the focus always being on the perspectives of COSATU leadership which is mainly men. It has generally been noted that there have long been disagreements within COSATU on the issue of the alliance and that support for the tripartite alliance has been declining among COSATU workers since 1998 (Buhlungu and Tshoaedi, 2012; Maree, 2012). A gendered analysis of the survey shows that in 2008 and 2004 about 50% and 66% of women workers supported the alliance. In 2014 this was however estimated 42.1%. Similarly, the survey shows a declining trend in women workers’ support for the ANC in the national elections of 2004 (68%), 2008 (44%) and 2014 (43%).

It is argued that male domination in leadership positions of COSATU fails to adequately reflect women’s political voices. COSATU’s decision to fully support the presidency of Jacob Zuma in 2008 was fully endorsed by a male dominated leadership structure, which was mandated by the COSATU congress. This paper argues that union democracy as practiced by COSATU unions, privileges the interests of men. Emphasis on the politics of the majority prioritises male dominance and power. Trade union democracy as currently practiced in the unions, which includes the politics of the majority, those who dominate public discourse, further marginalise women and excludes their voices from the political discourse.