Irvin Jim (born 1968) is a South African trade union leader. Born in on a farm in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

, Jim grew up in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. He became a university student, active in the

anti-apartheid movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-white population who were oppressed by the policies ...

, but had to leave education to earn money in a tyre factory in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

, where he joined the

National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is the biggest single trade union in South Africa with more than 338,000 members, and prior to its expulsion on 8 November 2014, the largest affiliate of the Congress of South African Tr ...

(NUMSA). Within three months, he was a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

, and by 1993 was working full-time for the union. In 1994, he was appointed as regional chair for the Eastern Cape, then from 2000 became its regional secretary. He also held posts in the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

and the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

. He's now the general secretary of the

Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (South Africa) The Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist-Leninist communist party in South Africa. The party was founded in March 2019 after a pre-launch convention at the end of 2018. History The roots of the SRWP li ...

. In 2008, Jim was elected as the general secretary of NUMSA, the biggest single trade union in South Africa. He was the spokesperson for NUMSA when it was expelled from the

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU or Cosatu) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union ...

(COSATU) in November 2014. He is a strong critic of the ruling

, which he accuses of failing to implement the 1955

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

, and which he blames for xenophobic violence in South Africa. In January 2015, he toured the United States, speaking to Local 1199 of the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...

in New York, and the

Institute for Policy Studies The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is an American Progressivism in the United States, progressive think tank, formed in 1963 and based in Washington, D.C. It was directed by John Cavanagh (economist), John Cavanagh from 1998 to 2021. In 202 ...

in Washington, DC. In his Washington speech, he stated that NUMSA is a Marxist-Leninist union whose goal is the creation of a "Socialist Republic of South Africa". He accused some leaders of the ANC of supporting a "post Apartheid neoliberal capitalist South Africa with South African and multinational corporations and the South African white political community" and stated that they had "betrayed the South African revolution." He is cooperating with

Mosiuoa Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African anti-Apartheid revolutionary for the African National Congress (ANC) who served jail time with Nelson Mandela from 1985 and who left the ANC to form the Congress of the Peo ...

of the Congress of the People party, and ousted COSATU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi in a campaign against political corruption in South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jim, Irvin Living people 1968 births South African anti-apartheid activists People from the Eastern Cape South African trade unionists