Social Movement Unionism: the Case of South Africa¶
Karl von Holdt (2002). Social Movement Unionism: the Case of South Africa. Work, Employment & Society 16(2). SAGE Publications / British Sociological Association.
| Type | journal article |
| Scope | Wider apartheid literature |
| Method | survey fieldwork |
| Period studied | 1980–1996 |
| Regions | Witbank (Mpumalanga/Transvaal), South Africa |
| Themes | unions strikes, mining migrant labour, resistance social movements, transition post apartheid, politics ideology elections, labour markets wages, comparative theory |
| Citation key | holdt2002 |
Argument¶
Using an ethnographic case study of NUMSA at Highveld Steel, von Holdt argues that South African social movement unionism (SMU) was internally contested and shaped by identities forged beyond the workplace: national-liberation politics, race, and rural Pedi migrant culture. Intense solidarity coexisted with coercion and violent conflict between hostel migrants and township residents. After 1994, democratic incorporation, black class formation and the failed import of Northern-style 'strategic unionism' fragmented union solidarity and eroded SMU. He concludes that SMU is ambiguous as a model, that analysis should instead examine the tension between movement and institutional dimensions of unionism, and that strategy transfer across national contexts is risky.
Evidence and method¶
63 in-depth interviews with 31 current and former trade unionists (shop stewards and rank-and-file activists) at Highveld Steel, conducted 1993-96, plus observation of union meetings, informal conversations, and union and management documents supplied by NUMSA. Management refused to cooperate. Draws on his PhD thesis (2000) and secondary literature, including examples of wildcat strikes.
Place in the debates¶
- Nature and definition of social movement unionism (SMU) (see Black trade unions: growth, wage effects, Wiehahn and strategy). Critiques existing SMU analysis (Lambert, Webster, Seidman, Moody, Waterman) as too externally focused on alliances, assuming a new class consciousness, and ambiguous. Proposes studying the movement dimension of unionism as 'contentious challenge' in tension with institutionalization, not a fixed model.
- Transferability of union strategies between North and South (see Black trade unions: growth, wage effects, Wiehahn and strategy). Sceptical: strategies are embedded in social structure, so strategic unionism failed when grafted onto SMU at NUMSA. Rejects the Moody/Waterman view that globalization produces a global SMU ('National reality counts').
- Continuity or erosion of COSATU's social movement role after 1994 (see Black trade unions: growth, wage effects, Wiehahn and strategy). Argues for erosion, against Adler and Webster (1995), whom he criticises for assuming overarching continuity, and against Wood and Psoulis (2001), whose survey finding he regards as weak.
Findings¶
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The relationship between unions and community/political organizations was an interpenetration of movements woven together by the discourse of national liberation, not a simple alliance. (p. 7)
not so much an alliance between autonomous organizations with specific common interests as an interpenetration of movements, a complex and dynamic network of political, community and workplace struggles woven together by a discourse of national liberation struggle
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The apartheid workplace regime was racially structured, so union struggle became a struggle against white power at work. (p. 7)
The occupational structure was racially defined, with whites occupying skilled and managerial positions and blacks occupying unskilled and semi-skilled positions.
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Migrants were concentrated in the toughest, lowest-paid jobs, while township residents held softer and more skilled jobs, producing a migrant/local divide. (p. 8)
In 1980, more than half of the 4000-5000 black workers employed by Highveld Steel were migrant workers accommodated in hostels in nearby townships.
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Pedi migrants brought rural disciplinary practices, including the sjambok and compulsory solidarity, into union organization, which became a source of conflict with township workers. (p. 9)
The sjambok became a means for building black solidarity in the union.
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A migrant-backed strike committee rivalled the shop steward committee, mobilizing wildcat strikes outside union procedures and splitting the union in 1990. (p. 12)
NUMSA at Highveld Steel was effectively split in two: ‘a union of the township and a union of the hostel’.
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After the 1994 transition, workers' political identification with the new government diluted militancy. (p. 13)
The disaggregation of political and trade union struggle diluted the militancy and solidarity of workers.
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Black class formation drew experienced shop stewards into political and managerial careers, hollowing out workplace organization. (p. 14)
Increasingly, the shop steward committee was seen as a stepping stone to opportunities for promotion or careers outside the fac-tory, which undermined its traditional role as representative of the workers.
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The new 'strategic unionism' failed at Highveld Steel because of technical complexity, the loss of officials to government, and weak democratic discussion. (p. 16)
The technical complexity of the strategy contributed to a growing gap between shop stewards and members
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SMU in South Africa incorporated premodern and non-class solidarities, from which it drew much of its vitality. (p. 17)
SMU in South Africa was not simply the class organization of a modern proletariat, but also a popular movement incorporating and shaped by premodern and non-class solidarities
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Strategy transfer across labour movements is not merely technical and risks undermining the borrowing organization. (p. 19)
Borrowing or learning from others has to take these realities into account, and modify lessons accord-ingly, or run the risk not only of failure, but of undermining the organizational resources and capacity of the borrowing organization.
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63 in-depth interviews with 31 trade unionists and former trade unionists at Highveld Steel (shop stewards and rank-and-file activists), 1993-1996 | interviews oral history | 1993-1996 (interviews over three years from 1993) | Primary data source for the ethnographic case study of internal union contestation, migrant/local divisions, the strike committee, and post-transition fragmentation; quoted extensively. |
| Observation of union meetings and informal conversations with trade unionists at Highveld Steel | author survey or fieldwork | 1993-1996 | Supplements interviews to identify complex processes and subtle changes in relationships and attitudes. |
| Union and management documents provided by NUMSA | union or movement records | c.1980s-1996 | Supplementary documentary material to the interviews; not specified individually. |
| von Holdt (2000) PhD thesis 'From Resistance to Reconstruction: A Case Study of Trade Unionism in the Workplace and the Community (1980-1996)' | author survey or fieldwork | 1980-1996 | Holds the extended interview material that supports the article's arguments. |
| Discussions with William Matlala, Pedi migrant worker, labour photographer and former shop steward | interviews oral history | not stated | Source of insights on kgoro, sjambok discipline and Pedi notions of solidarity. |
| Maller (1992) and Moodie and Ndatshe (1994) studies; von Holdt (1990) on the Mercedes Benz sit-in strike | secondary literature compilation | 1980s-1990 | Cited as supporting evidence for politicization, disorder and violent contestation in shopfloor relations beyond Highveld Steel. |
| Buhlungu (2001) survey of four COSATU affiliates (PhD thesis) | secondary literature compilation | 1973-2000 | Cited as evidence of the negative effect of upward mobility of union officials on organizational culture and internal solidarity. |
| Press and periodical reports of ungovernability episodes: SA Labour Bulletin (Mtshelwane 1994; 1996 'Amplats') and Business Day (21 Nov 1997; 20 July 1999) | newspapers periodicals | 1994-1999 | A sample of episodes of rank-and-file revolts against unions used to suggest wider erosion of SMU in the transition. |
| Wood and Psoulis (2001) national survey of COSATU members | household or labour survey microdata | c.2001 | Contrary survey-based finding that COSATU 'reaffirmed its social movement role', which the author dismisses on methodological grounds. |
| Pityana and Orkin (1992) survey of COSATU shop stewards; Strategic Unionism ACTU/TDC Mission document (1989) and Joffe et al. (1995) | secondary literature compilation | 1989-1995 | Referenced for the 'strategic unionism' strategy adopted by NUMSA and for assumptions about shop steward pressures; not analysed as data. |
New data¶
Author-built qualitative dataset: 63 in-depth interviews with 31 Highveld Steel trade unionists (1993-1996), plus meeting observations and union documents, forming a single-firm ethnographic case study.
Inference¶
Quantification: None.
Single in-depth ethnographic case study (Highveld Steel/NUMSA) tracing change over time from the 1980s to the post-1994 transition, using interview quotations; supplemented by a handful of press-reported episodes and other scholars' studies for generalisation, and used to critique the SMU concept theoretically.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Internal contestation, coercion and violence between migrants/township residents and between the strike committee and shop stewards were central to militant black unionism, not incidental. (p. 286) | Repeated interviews with shop stewards and activists at Highveld Steel; quotes from strike committee and shop steward office-bearers. | Partial data |
| Political and racial identities, interpenetrating with community organisations, structured union collective identity under the apartheid workplace regime. (p. 287) | Interview quotes from shop stewards and workers; author's description of occupational structure and segregation at Highveld Steel. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Migrant (Pedi) hostel workers imported rural notions of discipline and solidarity (kgoro, sjambok) into the union, generating conflict with township residents. (p. 289) | Interviews with hostel activists and shop stewards, discussions with Pedi activist William Matlala; comparison with Beinart. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| The union at Highveld Steel effectively split in 1990 between a hostel union and a township union when the strike committee suspended the shop steward leadership. (p. 292) | Interview accounts of shop steward office-bearers and strike committee activists. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| The transition to democracy and class formation (shop stewards moving into politics and management) eroded solidarity and militancy, producing fragmented wildcat strikes in 1994. (p. 294) | Interview quotes from shop stewards and migrant activists; author's account of the 1994 wildcat strikes; supporting press episodes and Buhlungu (2001). | Partial data |
| The attempt to graft 'strategic unionism' from Northern social democratic unions onto SMU failed at Highveld Steel and contributed to demobilisation. (p. 296) | Shop steward interviews and author's earlier SA Labour Bulletin analyses (1993, 1995); management intransigence noted but not documented as management refused cooperation. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| There is a broader body of evidence for erosion of SMU in the transition, beyond Highveld Steel. (p. 301) | Buhlungu (2001) survey; sample of press-reported episodes (truckers, Amplats, Harmony, Volkswagen). | Illustrative or anecdotal |
The author's caveats¶
Notes that interviewees were selected by snowball technique as key informants, that Highveld Steel management refused to cooperate, and that the press episodes are only a 'random sample' that is 'suggestive'; also states the case is one of a single firm and criticises quantitative methods (Wood and Psoulis) as limited in capturing organisational culture.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The argument rests on one firm and a snowball sample of union activists, with no management, hostel-resident non-activist or ordinary-member voices, and no company records, attendance, strike or turnover data to corroborate claims of erosion and violence. Union archives (minutes of shop steward and strike committee meetings, strike logs) and company personnel/strike records would test the claims, as would comparative cases at other plants; some union archives exist (e.g. at Wits historical papers) though access to Highveld Steel's records is unclear. Generalisation to SMU in South Africa relies on thin secondary and press evidence.
Replicability: Data described but not public.