THE National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) is set to take legal action to force the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to hold fresh elections after months of bitter infighting within the ranks of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) labour ally.

Numsa is on the brink of expulsion from the federation over its decision to organise workers across sectors. The union has come under fire for its hardline stance on the governing alliance — it took a resolution in December last year to call on Cosatu to break from the alliance.

It also resolved at the December 2013 gathering to form a United Front and a Worker Party or Movement for Socialism.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim on Monday reiterated these decisions but said the union would do everything in its power to remain within the Cosatu fold.

He said Numsa would “immediately reinstate” its legal challenge to demand a special national congress in order to “resolve all the matters that are now killing Cosatu”.

Mr Jim said any gathering other than an elective conference was “irrational” and went “against all known rules of justice”.

At the same time, Mr Jim admitted that there were “irreconcilable differences” among Cosatu’s top leadership over the posture and direction of the federation.

Numsa is set to face yet another leadership meeting next week where it is expected to be expelled from the federation.

The union survived a meeting of Cosatu’s top brass last week after a decision to vote on its future was taken. Numsa’s opponents, according to the union, backtracked at the last minute.

It is understood that Numsa was also consulting its legal team on its options ahead of the meeting on November 7, when its fate will ultimately be decided.

NATASHA MARRIAN, 27 OCTOBER 2014, 21:05