Unwanted unions

Banning politically affiliated trade unions won’t be easy. But it is a goal worth pursuing.

Their reaction, rather predictably, was one of collective outrage. It was a rare occasion that made these always feuding bodies speak with one voice. Never mind that the logic on offer to justify their anger was shaky. First, the context. Parliament’s State Affairs and Good Governance Committee is discussing a bill to regulate the federal civil service. During the discussions, leaders from across the political spectrum talked of the urgent need to outlaw politically affiliated trade unions from civil service. The lawmakers proposed a single official trade union to work as an umbrella organisation for all civil servants. The union representatives were having none of it. Issuing a statement, five different trade union bosses warned the lawmakers against “arrogance”, while talking up the big role of these unions in the democratic movements of 1990 and 2006. This isn’t saying much. Past participation in various democratic movements has become an excuse for political actors of all kinds to justify their continued relevance and importance. Had these trade unions been working as envisioned, they could have pointed to their more substantive initiatives to ease the livelihoods of civil servants. They could not as they have done nothing of the sort.