Gideon du Plessis, general secretary of trade union Solidarity, writes that the latest developments at the Johannesburg city council merely accentuate the cycle of political coalitions that are renowned for making up and breaking up.  

He notes that the phenomenon of formal coalition formation has been established in trade unionism for some time and shares commonalities with coalitions in the political environment.  In the mining sector most of the trade union coalitions between Solidarity, the National Union of Mineworkers and Uasa are formed in combinations of two of the trade unions, or all three jointly.  Even Amcu, which tends to function independently, finds itself in a coalition with Uasa in the coal sector.  In the aviation sector various coalitions exist between Satawu, Uasa, Solidarity and Uasa.  Du Plessis points out that trade union coalitions last much longer than political coalitions, and political parties stand to learn something from trade unions’ 10-point plan for successful coalitions.  The points are spelt out in Du Plessis’ article.  Among other points, he points out that trade unions agree beforehand that there will be differences between them and there will be room to allow for differences, but the protocol is that differences are sorted out behind the scenes and not in public.  Also, unions agree beforehand what the framework and procedures of their co-operation would be.  In that way, agreement is, broadly speaking, reached about issues that require joint action and those that unions would drive individually.  Moreover, there must be ongoing contact between the leadership (both the national and local leadership) of the unions that are partners in a coalition so as to identify a potential issue of contention between them expeditiously, thus ensuring that an established communication channel is in place when proactive action is called for.

• Read the full original of Gideon du Plessis’ article at BusinessLive

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