We welcome the five responses to our introductory article published in the May and September 2018 issues of the Global Labour Journal and thank the editors of the GLJ for providing a platform for a more in-depth discussion of the origins, development and application of the Power Resources Approach (PRA). Our aim is to deepen the debate among critical labour scholars by introducing into the dominant narrative of union decline worldwide examples of innovative trade unionism. PRA is a way of analysing these developments, and we look forward to many more contributions on this, and other ways, of exploring the future of labour.Clearly there are important areas of agreement between ourselves and the comments made on our article. There are also areas where we feel our approach to PRA has been misunderstood, and there are areas of disagreement. Let us deal with the agreements first.
After the end of Apartheid 18 years ago, class conflicts are on the rise in South Africa. In most cases, social struggles of poor communities and trade union protests are led separately from each other. In contrast, trade unions in South Africa were regarded as an exemplar of Social Movement Unionism in their fight against Apartheid. Based on seven interviews and three group discussions with trade unionists from the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) and municipal employees in Cape Town, this article examines the impact, chances and obstacles of coalition building between trade unions and the new social movements in contemporary South Africa. In Cape Town SAMWU and social movements are working together to formulate an alternative Development Plan for the city as well as joint ideas for a good public service based on the needs of poor communities. As casualisation is increasing and undermining the associational power of trade unions, links are rebuild between SAMWU and community organisations in Cape Town. At the same time it can be shown that the joining of forces and social struggles is based on preconditions and needs intensified efforts undertaken by unions and social movements alike.
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