Memorandum from Labor Desk Coordinator Mike Fleshman to Key Labor Contacts saying, at its best, international labor solidarity is a two-way street, uniting workers in different countries in action around common interests and objectives. In March, that street ran past Caterpillar's South African subsidiary, when the company work force, members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), walked out in solidarity with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The union staged one-hour walkouts over two consecutive days in support of the UAW Peoria strike. The Caterpillar solidarity strike and the recent victory over the union-busting Crown Cork and Seal Company demonstrate the potency of...
Memorandum from Labor Desk Coordinator Mike Fleshman to Key Labor Contacts saying, at its best, international labor solidarity is a two-way street, uniting workers in different countries in action around common interests and objectives. In March, that street ran past Caterpillar's South African subsidiary, when the company work force, members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), walked out in solidarity with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The union staged one-hour walkouts over two consecutive days in support of the UAW Peoria strike. The Caterpillar solidarity strike and the recent victory over the union-busting Crown Cork and Seal Company demonstrate the potency of international labor solidarity action. It also underscores the importance of establishing the direct links between U.S. and South African counterpart unions that National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the UAW have maintained for many years. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has named former metalworker Dorothy Mokgalo to the new post of Gender Coordinator. Also, The Africa Fund offers resources on the freedom struggle, including videos, publications, speakers, posters, action suggestions, T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers. The Africa Fund Labor Desk distributes regular news and information about South Africa's union movement, including Action Alerts, articles from the South African press and statements from the national labor federation COSATU and its industrial affiliates. This mailing includes a memorandum RE: MURDER IF CROWN ALRODE SHOPSTEWARDS from Bethuel Masermule of the NUMSA to Brothers George Poulin and Leon Lynch about the murder of Crown Cork Alrode shopsteward David Dingane Radebe on the letterhead of the Stop Apartheid's Violence campaign. The mailing includes Profile of Dorothy Mokgalo, Gender Coordinator, COSATU. The mailing includes Available From The Africa Fund Labor Desk and order form for a T-shirt supporting the Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union produced by the United Paperworkers International Union. The memo discusses Inkatha vigilantes, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Chief Gatsha Buthelezi, Tokoza township, Labor Against Apartheid, the New York Labor Committee Against Apartheid, the Stop the Violence video produced by Globalvision, and Nelson Mandela.
