The Political Economy of Upgrading

Abstract

Chapter 7 argues that the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) strategy was complicated by its dual role as a trade union and investment manager. Having taken advantage of investment opportunities provided through ‘black economic empowerment policies’ to grow substantial financial assets and later also direct investments in the clothing manufacturing industry, the union, in effect, was both a representative of labour as well as a capitalist. Its political connections meant that it was well positioned to take advantage of subsidies. The incentives and opportunities facing SACTWU were consistent with a union strategy to have a smaller body of better-paid workers rather than growing its membership of lower-wage workers through labour-intensive job creation. SACTWU is suspicious of the growth of workers’ co-operatives (seeing them as sham and designed solely to avoid minimum wage regulation). We argue that the potential for workers’ co-operatives to generate more transparent and inclusive productive and distributional practices is exciting and consistent with inclusive dualism.