Organized By Goethe-Institut Südafrika - German Cultural Centre in Johannesburg
119 Jan Smuts Avenue - Parkwood,Johannesburg (-26.154266, 28.033315)
Film Screening 17.05.2014, 11H00 Goethe-Institut, Auditorium A SPECIAL SCREENING OF THE DOCUMENTARY MADE BY SIMON GUSH IN COLLABORATION WITH JAMES CAIRNS This exhibition examines labour relations at the Mercedes Benz plant in East London, South Africa, in 1990. In the factory’s history, it is a year that will be remembered for two defining events: the building of a red Mercedes Benz for the recently released Nelson Mandela and a wildcat sleep-in strike that shut the plant down for nine weeks. In the mid eighties, the factory faced a crisis. While it had been run by conservative management, unions had become extremely militant. Production was extremely low as the work stoppages, strikes and go-slows had become the norm. A change in leadership in 1987/88, however, meant that new relationships began to develop and resulted in a groundbreaking recognition agreement between Mercedes Benz and the unions (which in many ways preempted the labour relations act of 1995 in South Africa). A sign of this new rapport was when the workers convinced management that they would build a Mercedes Benz 500SE for Nelson Mandela. An agreement was reached whereby the employees would work an extra hour, unpaid, to cover the time spent on the manufacture of the car, while the company would donate the parts. But after years of attrition and the routine of industrial action, change was not easy. A destructive wildcat sleep-in strike ensued, with the workers occupying the plant. In the documentary, made in collaboration with James Cairns, the story of the above events is told through the voices of the people involved. It is comprised of recent interviews with the some of the main protagonists from management and labour, overlaid with footage of contemporary East London. The installations of the car body, strike uniforms (by local designer Mokotjo Mohulo) and beds are speculative reconstructions of objects from the incident. The reconstructions are not historically accurate, but imagine the possibilities of moments when the factory was appropriated for alternative ideas of what production might be. Find out more about Simon Gush and his work on http://www.simongush.net/