Public sector trade union response to change in South Africa: a case study of the South African municipal workers union (SAMWU) in the Western Cape (1992-97)
type: CreativeWork
description: The thesis explores the relationship between the public sector trade unions and the government in South Africa from 1992-7. The research is located in debates concerning the ANC government's endorsement of the 'free-market 1 economy in the post apartheid period. The Marxist method of historical materialism is used to explain the changing relationship between the state and the trade unions. To expound these issues, a single case study of the Cape Town branch of the municipal union - SAMWU - is examined. The case served several functions, it illustrated the nature of apartheid, it took account of the government's introduction of privatisation in the public sector, and simultaneously provided a vehicle for the development of the theory of the state and its inter-relationship with the trade unions. The questions that arose from the case were linked to whether SAMWU would engage in conflict or conciliation to stop privatisation in the public sector, and whether the state would be free to respond favourably to labour's actions and demands. A number of key findings were established relating to these areas. With regard to the state, the materialist analysis developed by the 'state derivation' theorists provided a useful tool, but for reasons outlined in the dissertation, neglected the basic structural dependence on capitalism. The theoretical conclusion of the thesis: was the state was not independent of capitalism, that it - along with business and labour - was ultimately bound up with the relations of capital. However, as an integral part of capitalism, the state was also affected by the 'contradictions' or potential conflict found within the exploitative relations between capital and labour. Consequently, in order to control any serious challenge from labour to the system - arising as a result of the 'contradictions' within capitalism - the South African state had chosen to engage in conciliation with the trade unions, with the aim of minimising any overall threat or res…
abstract: The thesis explores the relationship between the public sector trade unions and the government in South Africa from 1992-7. The research is located in debates concerning the ANC government's endorsement of the 'free-market 1 economy in the post apartheid period. The Marxist method of historical materialism is used to explain the changing relationship between the state and the trade unions. To expound these issues, a single case study of the Cape Town branch of the municipal union - SAMWU - is examined. The case served several functions, it illustrated the nature of apartheid, it took account of the government's introduction of privatisation in the public sector, and simultaneously provided a vehicle for the development of the theory of the state and its inter-relationship with the trade unions. The questions that arose from the case were linked to whether SAMWU would engage in conflict or conciliation to stop privatisation in the public sector, and whether the state would be free to respond favourably to labour's actions and demands. A number of key findings were established relating to these areas. With regard to the state, the materialist analysis developed by the 'state derivation' theorists provided a useful tool, but for reasons outlined in the dissertation, neglected the basic structural dependence on capitalism. The theoretical conclusion of the thesis: was the state was not independent of capitalism, that it - along with business and labour - was ultimately bound up with the relations of capital. However, as an integral part of capitalism, the state was also affected by the 'contradictions' or potential conflict found within the exploitative relations between capital and labour. Consequently, in order to control any serious challenge from labour to the system - arising as a result of the 'contradictions' within capitalism - the South African state had chosen to engage in conciliation with the trade unions, with the aim of minimising any overall threat or res…
author: Catchpowle, Lesley
language: en
keywords: DT Africa, HD Industries. Land use. Labor
date published: 2002-08
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:25:42Z
provider: University of Greenwich
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Greenwich