Numsa big-belly laugh!
Staff conditions of employment
Negotiating new conditions of employment for Numsa staff is always a tricky business. Recent proposals for improving staff salaries drew a lot of comment from many quarters. Regional administrator in the Western Cape , Diana Lombard, responded poetically:
SHAME ON YOU
Have you ever pictured yourselfIn your bosses shoes?
Waking up at five in the morningComing home late at night.
No bread to eatNo tea to drink
Children crying of hungerWomen dying of wonder
Body aching with painAfter a long days hard-work and strain
NO – SHAME ON YOU!
Everybody takes from himBosses; Taxes including his staff
Coming to work lateMisusing the phoneStay out of workAs much as you please
Treated like "Klaas"Instead like a "Baas"
SHAME ON YOU!
When will it stop?Never ever, even if you drop.
Boss when you die,No fuss will be made,But when your staff dies,A tombstone will rise.
We talk about the triple oppression on women,Now we add another.Bosses struggle for their rights,While we gain from their fights.
SHAME ON YOU!!
You think you suffer,But never realizeHow lucky you are -Having comfort in your home,While your bosses stay in shacks.
To work for the struggle,Is what you put in a love affair.More effort to make it work.You don't just receive,But you also give.
So stop being selfishAnd see your lifeIn a different light.
Have you ever worn a Union T/Shirt?NO – SHAME ON YOU!
If I think about itI feel ashamed of itAll I can say is that:
I AM SORRY BOSS!
And from a Numsa organiser's diary:
During wage negotiations at a German subsidiary last year, the manager demanded that Numsa should stop asking for higher wage increases for workers. He also wanted the long service awards in the current agreement to be changed. The in-house agreement provides that workers are entitled to 1 month's pay on completion of 5 years service with the company, 2 months' pay on completion of 10 years' service etc.
"In Germany ," he said, "workers get a bottle of wine on completion of 10 years' service. "
"Surely you're not suggesting importing German working conditions, are you?" asked the local organiser.
"Of course, we have to save costs and make ze workers productive, " he fumed.
"Well I suppose you are ready to install a beer vending machine so that workers can help themselves to their favourite drink during working hours like German workers do….?"
"No! No! " he stood up. "No beer in Sous Africa. People will do no work. Zey drink all day! "
"Then give us what will make them as productive as Germans," insisted the local organiser, much to the amusement of the shop stewards.
"Alright, forget Germany ," he sat down on the chair. "Let's start from ze beginning! "
Whose side is he on?
Shop stewards normally frown on full-time Numsa officials meeting privately with management so when shop stewards saw a full-time official going into a caucus with management instead of coming to their caucus, they were more than a little surprised . But in these times of labour mobility, they shouldn't have been. The 'comrade' in question has gone to the 'other side'!
Source
Numsa News