South African Democratic Teachers Union, Gauteng Province 6th Triennial Provincial Conference Lakes Hotel, Benoni, 9-11 July 2014 Declaration The SADTU Gauteng 6th Triennial Provincial Conference which brings together the Provincial Office Bearers, Regional Office Bearers and 1 branch delegate for every 200 paid up members convened from the 9th- 11th of July 2014 in Benoni, Ekurhuleni, representing 29 705 educators and education workers. The Province met to undertake the critical tasks of reviewing the programmes of the Union, its policy positions, progress made on its 2030 Vision and broader issues within and outside the Basic Education sector. We, the delegates to this conference convened under the theme “Organise and Empower Education Workers to Deliver Free Quality Public Education and Build Socialism” acknowledge the role that we still have to play in advancing the National Democratic Revolution. We remain inspired by some of our fallen heroes in the mould of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, OR Tambo and Matthew Goniwe who in their own individual way symbolised the human quest for justice, equality and access to quality education for all. As guided by our theme, we are adamant that socialism is indeed the future that must be built now and on our part we will fight for the right of the African working class child to access quality public education. One of our struggle heroes the late Cde Nelson Mandela once remarked that “Education is the most powerful weapon with which you can change the world”. Change in the current socio-economic global environment which is dictated by the few that own the means of production is indeed what is required and we will primarily drive it from the classroom, our site of struggle. The education landscape in our country and indeed in our province is still confronted by some glaring challenges that require a collective effort from all stakeholders to mitigate. Our Union has a central role to play in this regard. However, we want to make it clear that there must be maximum accountability from those tasked with the development and implementation of policy. We will not accept administrative and leadership deficiencies that have a negative impact on the sector from those that occupy offices at various levels of the system, from national to the circuit offices. Conference notes that in recent times the organisation has been exposed to an unprecedented wave of “un-SADTU”, counter-revolutionary elements hell bent to destroy us from within. These elements are characterized by symptoms of gross organisational ill-discipline and a profound disregard for our constitution. Some of them have gone to the extent of organising and attempting to recruit members from within our ranks. We want to make it clear that we do not take kindly to this new found zeal to destabilise our Union and we will do what is necessary to defend the organisation with equal enthusiasm and will not shy away from this task. Conference expressed its determination to defend the constitution of the Union before which all members must be equal at all costs and consequently our unity which is sacrosanct. This profound determination is informed by the recent attacks from within our ranks that we have been exposed to. Some of these come in the form of previously unheard of acts such as subjecting the organisation to the courts of law whilst we have a constitution that guides internal disciplinary processes. These wedge drivers that Cde OR Tambo correctly warned us about have a sharp poisonous tongue and instead of allowing themselves to be subjected to the Union’s Code of Conduct resort to populist sloganeering and mobilising internal revolts. We are of the firm view that all mechanisms that can ensure we remain united as a union must be activated without delay. We appreciate the fact that as we approach our national congress, members and structures alike will be engaging vigorously on leadership and policy preferences as is allowed in a democratic organisation. Essentially, we believe that such engagements must be guided by the ideological compass which we envisage as an organisation, how far we have come towards achieving the 2030 Vision of the Union, unity, cohesion and consistency. Conference notes and welcomes the recent general elections results, particularly in Gauteng. In any democracy a 54% margin is accepted as a popular mandate. We appreciate the confidence that the people of South Africa and Gauteng continue to show in the ANC led government. We submit however that all indications are there that we will be met with challenges for the 2016 local government elections inherent within a rapidly changing socio-politico-economical landscape. Some of these challenges include the emergence of ultra-right demagogic formations misleadingly packaged as left vehicles to advance a radical economic transformative path for our people. Others include the consolidation of the neo-liberal agenda which features some media houses and rogue Western funded anti-majoritarian NGOs. Against this backdrop, conference believes that the ANC in the province must put an emphasis on service delivery, functional united local structures and a healthy alliance at all levels as we move towards the local government elections. Fundamentally as an organisation, we are re-affirming our 2010 National Congress Resolution to support and work towards a decisive victory for the ANC as it remains the only hope for our people. We note the emerging threat of workerism with traces of ethnic chauvinism within our ever changing political landscape. We view this as a deliberate attempt to divide the working class and derail us from our historic mission as this stratum of society. Our view is that the trade union movement has a specific and critical role to play in terms of advancing and defending the interests of the workers. We also believe that in pursuing its mission, the trade union movement must have a holistic view of its self as part of a system that includes other strata in society and that it must work with these strata to achieve its goals. We are thus calling for a stronger Tripartite Alliance at all levels that must start with a united COSATU which we must all defend. In view of the challenges that confront us both within and outside the organization and in line with our 2030 Vision which we are firmly re-affirming, we further resolve as follows: PILLAR NUMBER 1 EFFECTIVE SERVICING OF UNION MEMBERS Conference submits that growing the union, servicing and retaining members must be one of the central drivers that inform our operations. Collective bargaining is a key element of our existence and we believe that the union must at all times seek to secure collective agreements that are most favourable to the members unapologetically. We thus want to declare that during the public service wage negotiations of the 2015/16 financial year we will vigorously and fearlessly push for a double-digit salary increment and a single term agreement. Equally, we welcome the mooted appointment of full time presiding officers by the GDE for disciplinary process as we believe that this move will go a long towards reducing deficiencies such as prejudice against teachers and our members in particular. We want to emphasise however that we must be given a role in the spirit of inclusivity during the appointment of these presiding officers as we have intimate knowledge of unnecessary guilty verdicts declared by some LROs. This conference believes that the current wave of pre-retirement age resignations by teachers will be detrimental to the workforce and the system. This trend is largely informed by the desperate need by some to access their pension funds due to a generally unfavourable economic climate. We are re-committing ourselves to previous union resolutions to increase personal finance management awareness and wellness programmes targeting members. The financial well being of our members is of our concern and it is in this spirit that we are calling for the discussions around the GEHS at the collective bargaining council to be completed speedily so that the implementation phase can commence soonest. Conference insists that amongst other measures, there must be automatic qualification into the scheme for teachers upon appointment. As a matter of principle, conference is saying we must ensure that the Union is adequately represented in all the relevant platforms that decide on member benefits such as GEMS. We are however conscious of previous resolutions of the organisation that are in support of the implementation of the National Health Insurance. We are re-affirming these resolutions and also insist that as a transitional measure and in the immediate, member representation in GEMS is critical. PILLAR NUMBER 2 CREATING A LEARNING NATION Conference holds the view that coherent strategies must be constantly sought and implemented to improve educational outcomes in the province. We note the continued implementation of the Gauteng Primary Literacy & Mathematics Strategy which we are not persuaded that it is the panacea to our education related challenges. We believe that it has inherent deficiencies and we are thus re-affirming our 2013 PGC resolution that its implementation to be halted. We accept that our development trajectory requires a multi-pronged approach in terms of skills development. We thus want to submit that measures must be put in place to increase the number of technical schools which is in decline and to introduce vocational education in primary schools. We are also calling for the acceleration of the Presidential Infrastructure Task Team work which includes school infrastructure. The GDE must also dedicate resources to this important project. We believe that this will result in the phasing out of mobile classrooms which we view as dehumanising to our people. We note and welcome the ANC’s manifesto commitment to ensure universal access to education at the foundation level of schooling. We must register our concern however with the lack of urgency with which the employer has been dealing with the matter as far as ECD & Gr R practitioners are concerned. We are thus re-affirming our 2013 PGC resolution on these practitioners and are calling for an immediate and drastic improvement of their conditions of service including those of ESSP and patrollers. We are calling for the revival of the District Skills Development Coordinating Teams and other skills development structures. Such a move must include our active participation at all levels and the ring fencing of designated funds. We believe that this will ensure that a coherent and adequate teacher development strategy is advanced. We believe that the implementation of ANA remains inconsistent with CAPS and contaminated with poor administration at a provincial and district levels. Conference is thus re-affirming the 2013 PGC and NGC resolution on the matter. PILLAR NUMBER 3 PROMOTING A DEVELOPMENTENT ORIENTED NATION STATE Conference believes that our ever changing political environment coupled with the threat of workerism and business trade unionism calls for the strengthening of the political awareness of our members. We are thus resolving that political schools must be integrated into regular union programmes and that the content must be enriched to help us face the current challenges. We are of the view that the challenges that confront us in the education sector and indeed in broader society require a collective effort to address them. This reality informs our determination to strengthen the Education Alliance and improve its functionality at all levels. PILLAR NUMBER 4 CREATING INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS Conference notes with appreciation the strategic position of the organisation in education internationally. We must continue to maximise our participation in EI. We particularly welcome the good work done in the SADC region. The participation of the union on the SATO games is supported and must be continued as a critical component of our international solidarity work. We join the progressive forces of the world to condemn the abduction of school girls in Nigerian by a grouping calling itself Boko Haram and demand their safe return home. To this end, we shall participate in all forms of campaigns in pursuance of this demand. We believe that this is a manifestation of terrorism especially against Africa and every effort must be put towards eliminating it. We also condemn in the strongest possible terms the brutal attacks and killing of innocent defenceless Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip and parts of occupied Palestine by the Zionist apartheid regime. We pledge our solidarity with the people of Palestine in their quest for self-determination and undertake to join all progressive forces to mount anti-Israel campaigns of whatever form. PILLAR NUMBER 5 BUILDING A DELIVERY BASED ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY We are re-affirming the Union’s 2030 Vision in terms of organizational excellence. The conference believes that the Union must put in place measures in relation to its financial sustainability so that we can be able to implement programmes. This is informed by the fact that there are economic constraints outside our control and that if not mitigated, they are likely to compromise our ability as an organisation to service our members. Conclusion We, the delegates to this 6th triennial provincial conference believe that the unity of the organisation is central to our very existence. We believe that we all have the responsibility to ensure that unity finds expression in our daily operations. Those who want to use the union for their narrow objectives must be exposed and isolated lest history judges us very harshly. Organisational discipline, the supremacy of our constitution and democratic centralism are some of the key principles that must guide us on a daily basis. And so we declare!!!! SADTU Lives!!! SADTU Leads!!!!
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 19:36:10 +0000
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