SOLIDARITY AGREEMENT – Ntima MAKHETHA

Ntima MAKHETHA
United Textile Employees – UNITE

Solidarity embodies genuine unity, mutual support towards a common goal, built on trust, empathy and shared values. Below is brief outline on how we can better utilize the aforementioned to tackle issues that arise in our respective countries, communities, workplaces and homes to affect change.

The first step to building better solidarity is to have unions built or have same foundational principles as a way to have the same worldview which will hinder some unnecessary doctrinal or ideological differences or interests. For example, if union A is service model and B is an organizing model that creates classes between officials of A and B because they are trying to answer two different questions. Which is how to organize workers while others are interested in being service providers for workers. Furthermore, if workers can have shared political trainings, tasks, games, online groups, shop steward meetings, conferences to better have a serious understanding on the challenges they face on a daily basis when it comes to things like gender based violence, job security, freedom of association, collective bargaining, minimum wages and maximum wage, occupational safety and health and welfare and social security.

Solidarity as a priority with cooperation and coordination:

Mutual support to include same day strikes on textiles that produce for the same manufacture coupled with organizing funds to unions which are below par and help with activist to agitate and mobilize
For strikes and retrenchments ,lets forge a solidarity fund to better equip workers during those periods
Innovate on different protest mechanism for different situation from stay ways ,looting ,vandalism ,go slows and walk –outs
Create a tot (teacher of teachers) group as a think tank to coordinate, teach and agitate with online videos

Occupational health and safety

Unions need to have trained experts to do studies, tests on the work environment of the employee to collaborate the data provided by employees and manufactures.
Have annual full body (eye, ears and cardio vascular diseases) tests as a standard.
Shared bills and tactics on how to push for legislation, advocacy , protection and diet
Transport allowances for after work employees

Gender based violence

Using Angela Davis, mashinini’s understanding of work as paid and unpaid: