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Title: Unemployment Author: Workers’ Solidarity Federation Language: en Topics: South Africa Source: Retrieved on January 1, 2005 from http://www.cat.org.au/aprop/unemploy.txt
Unemployment is always a direct effect of living under capitalism, it is
used by the bosses to depress wages “there are plenty of people out
there who work for less money than you” is a common threat as is “behave
yourselves or I’ll close down” as we saw above, the chaotic nature of
capitalism also leads to regular crises and attacks on workers which
cause massive unemployment. This is especially true of South Africa
where the crisis of the racist capitalist system has caused massive job
losses. Elsewhere in Africa, the economic crisis of the 1980s and 1990s,
which was caused by recession in the imperialist world capitalist system
and by the mismanagement of the economy by the ruling class, has led to
ESAPs and job losses.
Unemployment will not be stopped while the capitalist system exists but
there are immediate demands that can be put forward. Any workplace
threatened with closure should be occupied. The workers should demand
continued employment whether it be under a new owner or by
nationalisation. We believe it makes little difference because, for us,
nationalisation is not a cure-all. It is no guarantee of better wages or
job security and it does not bring us any nearer to socialism. There is
no essential difference between a boss who is a civil servant and one
who is a private employer. However, we oppose all privatisation that
leads to job losses, worse working conditions or less services for the
mass of the people. We also call for a shorter working week, an end to
systematic overtime and double jobbing and an end to all productivity
deals. Basic wages should be high enough so that workers do not need to
work excess hours.
We believe that the unemployed should accept no responsibility for the
situation. Unemployment payments should be increased substantially.
Where possible, the unemployed should organise themselves to defend
their rights and link up with the broader trade union movement. We think
that the employed and the unemployed have basically the same interests,
and these are to resist the ruling class which oppresses them.