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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2015
I am an ordinary worker who became part of the trade union movement in the early 1970's when South Africa was hit by a wave of strikes which eventually spread to the whole country. My experience of apartheid is a practical one. I never read about it in books. Instead, I am a direct product of that system.
I would like to begin by stating that trade unions in South Africa are as old as trade unions in North America. While black trade unions in South Africa were not legally recognized until 1979, black trade unionism dates as far back as 1919 when blacks were organized within the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICWU) which, at its peak, had 100,000 members. In the 1940's, many black unions existed and received guidance from the Council of Non-European Trade Unions (CNETU) which had emerged in 1941 as a coordinating body of black trade unions under progressive leadership.
1. A glossary of acronyms follows:
ANC — African National Congress
CAWU — Construction and Allied Workers Union
CCAWUSA — Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union of South Africa
CNETU — Council of Non-European Trade Unions
COSATU — Congress of South African Trade Unions
CWIU — Chemical Workers Industrial Union
FAWU — Food and Allied Workers Union
ICWU — Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union
ICFTU — International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
NACTU — National Council of Trade Unions
NEHAWU — National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union
NUM — National Union of Mineworkers
NUMSA — National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa
NUTW — National Union of Textile Workers
NUWU — National Unemployed Workers Union
POTWA — Post Office and Telecommunications Workers Association
PWAWU — Paper, Wood and Allied Workers Union
SAAWU — South African Allied Workers Union
SACTU — South African Congress of Trade Unions
SADWU — South African Domestic Workers Union
SARHWU — South African Railway and Harbour Workers Union
TGWU — Transport and General Workers Union
UDF — United Democratic Front
UWUSA — United Workers Union of South Africa
* Indeed, on February 24, 1988, the UDF was banned along with sixteen other anti-apartheid organizations and COSATU was barred from all political activity.—Ed.