The South African Trades and Labour Council (SAT&LC) was a national trade union federation in South Africa.
History
The federation was founded in 1930, when the South African Trades Union Council merged with the Cape Federation of Labour Unions. The federation was broadly split between the craft unions and mining unions, which generally only admitted white workers and took conservative positions; and a growing number of industrial unions, which admitted white, Asian and "coloured" members, and often worked closely with unions representing black workers.
In 1944, the federation adopted the Workers' Charter, which aimed to bring about a socialist government. In 1947, some unions of white workers resigned in opposition to the SAT&LC admitting black workers, and they formed the pro-apartheid Co-ordinating Council of South African Trade Unions. A further group of right-wing craft unions left in 1951 to form the South African Federation of Trade Unions.
In 1950, the Government of South Africa introduced the Suppression of Communism Act, which made it extremely difficult to maintain unions open to both black and white workers. The SAT&LC became increasingly divided, with some unions supporting the liberation of black workers, reform of the federation's discriminatory constitution, and the formation of local committees to organise all workers. Other unions, principally those craft unions already restricted to white workers, opposed these ideas. In 1954, they walked out of the federation's congress, and founded the new Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA), which did not accept black workers.
Nineteen SAT&LC affiliates refused to join the TUCSA, and instead former a Trade Union Co-ordinating Committee. In 1955, this merged with the Council of Non-European Trade Unions, to form the South African Congress of Trade Unions.
Affiliates
The following unions were affiliated in 1947:
| Union | Abbreviation | Founded | Membership (1947) |
|---|---|---|---|
| African Cement Workers' Union | 147 | ||
| African Commercial and Distributive Workers' Union | 375 | ||
| African Sweet Workers' Union | 1937 | 325 | |
| Agricultural Workers' Federation | 1,057 | ||
| Amalgamated Bricklayers' Trade Union of South Africa | 1,225 | ||
| Amalgamated Engineering Union | AEU | 1893 | 7,608 |
| Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers | ASW | 1881 | 3,793 |
| Brewery Employees' Union | 1929 | 225 | |
| Building Workers' Industrial Union | BWIU | 1916 | 7,334 |
| Cape Explosive Industrial Workers' Union | 1927 | 225 | |
| Cape Furniture Workers' Union | 1,250 | ||
| Cape Meat Trade Employees' Union | 199 | ||
| Cape Mineral Water Workers' Union | 138 | ||
| Cape Plywood Workers' Industrial Union | 135 | ||
| Cape Saw Mill Workers' Union | 150 | ||
| Cape Town Gas Workers' Union | 60 | ||
| Cape Town Lift Operators' Union | 11 | ||
| Cape Western District Bespoke Tailors' Union | 300 | ||
| Chemical and Allied Workers' Union | 259 | ||
| Chemical Workers' Union | 1943 | 180 | |
| Concession Stores and Allied Trades Assistants' Union | 1926 | 668 | |
| Durban Indian Municipal Employees' Society | DIMES | 1936 | 1,801 |
| Durban Municipal Transport Employees' Union | 1926 | 500 | |
| East London and Border Furniture Workers' Union | 145 | ||
| East London Transport Workers' Union | 84 | ||
| Explosive and Fertiliser Workers' Union | 750 | ||
| Food and Canning Workers' Union | FCWU | 1941 | 2,025 |
| Food, Canning and Allied Workers' Union | 540 | ||
| Furniture Workers' Industrial Union (Natal) | 1930 | 807 | |
| Furniture Workers' Industrial Union (Transvaal) | FWIU | 1925 | 1,610 |
| Garment Workers' Industrial Union | GWIU | 1934 | 2,180 |
| Garment Workers' Union | GWUSA | 1909 | 11,870 |
| General Building Workers' Union | 135 | ||
| Glass Workers' Union | GWU | 1943 | 359 |
| Glass Manufacturing Workers' Union | 56 | ||
| Hotel, Bar and Catering Trade Employees' Union | HB&CTEA | 1,050 | |
| Iron Moulders' Society of South Africa | IMS | 1896 | 1,182 |
| Jewellers' and Goldsmiths' Society | J&G | 1939 | 180 |
| Johannesburg Municipal Transport Workers' Union | JMTWU | 1935 | 1,750 |
| Match Workers' Union | 1944 | 93 | |
| Match Workers' Industrial Union | 150 | ||
| Mineral Water Workers' Union | 1944 | 75 | |
| Motor Industry Employees' Union | MIEU | 1939 | 4,753 |
| Natal Liquor and Catering Trade Employees' Union | NL&CTEU | 1928 | 875 |
| Natal Sugar Industry Employees' Union | 1938 | 887 | |
| National Baking Industrial Union | 1927 | 354 | |
| National Union of Laundering, Cleaning and Dyeing Workers | NULCDW | 1940 | 575 |
| National Union of Commercial Travellers | 1937 | 1,274 | |
| National Union of Distributive Workers | NUDW | 1936 | 7,420 |
| Oil and Petrol Employees' Union | 944 | ||
| Operative Plasterers' Trade Union of South Africa | 248 | ||
| Optical Workers' Union | 59 | ||
| Picture Framing Workers' Industrial Union | 9 | ||
| Port Elizabeth Non-European Municipal Workers' Union | 193 | ||
| Port Elizabeth Tram and Bus Workers' Union | 1930 | 329 | |
| Pretoria Liquor and Catering Trade Employees' Union | 1925 | 160 | |
| Pretoria Municipal Tram and Bus Workers' Union | 1942 | 329 | |
| Pretoria Retail Meat Trade Employees' Union | 92 | ||
| Public Service and Provincial Council Workers' Union | 796 | ||
| Rope and Mat Workers' Industrial Union | 1937 | 177 | |
| Shoe and Leather Repairer Workers' Union (Cape) | 97 | ||
| Shoe and Leather Repairer Workers' Union (Port Elizabeth) | 27 | ||
| South African Association of Municipal Employees | SAAME | 1919 | 7,519 |
| South African Boilermakers' Society | SABS | 1916 | 2,501 |
| South African Canvas and Rope Workers' Union | SAC&RWU | 1926 | 180 |
| South African Canvas and Rope Workers' Union (Cape) | 35 | ||
| South African Electrical Workers' Association | SAEWA | 1939 | 3,784 |
| South African Engine Drivers' and Firemen's Association | SAED&FA | 1894 | 2,616 |
| South African Hairdressers' Employees' Industrial Union | SAHEIU | 1944 | 1,788 |
| South African Iron and Steel Trades Association | ISTA | 1936 | 1,788 |
| South African Mine Workers' Union | MWU | 1902 | 17,500 |
| South African Reduction Workers' Association | SARWA | 1924 | 2,500 |
| South African Society of Bank Officials | SASBO | 1916 | 5,300 |
| South African Tin Workers' Union | SATWU | 1939 | 1,843 |
| South African Typographical Union | SATU | 1898 | 7,088 |
| Sweet Workers' Union | SWU | 1926 | 1,843 |
| Tailoring Workers' Industrial Union | 1934 | 725 | |
| Tea, Coffee and Chicory Industry Employees' Union | 1943 | 94 | |
| Tea, Coffee and Chicory Industry Employees' Union (Cape) | 67 | ||
| Textile Workers' Industrial Union | TWIU | 1935 | 1,625 |
| Timber Workers' Union | 75 | ||
| Tin Workers' Union | 263 | ||
| Tobacco Workers' Union | 1928 | 1,005 | |
| Tramway and Omnibus Workers' Union | TOWU | 933 | |
| Transvaal Explosives and Chemical Workers' Union | 1925 | 480 | |
| Transvaal Leather and Allied Trades Industrial Union | TL&ATIU | 1928 | 1,651 |
| Transvaal Retail Meat Trade Employees' Union | 1938 | 410 | |
| Trawler and Line Fishermen's Union | 175 | ||
| Twine and Bag Workers' Union | 1942 | 113 | |
| Umbogintwini Industrial Workers' Union | 72 | ||
| Wholesale Meat Factory and Cold Storage Workers' Industrial Union | 58 | ||
| Witwatersrand Banking Employees' Association | 1934 | 420 | |
| Witwatersrand Liquor and Catering Trade Employees' Union | Wit Liquor | 1926 | 370 |
| Witwatersrand Taxi Drivers' Union | 1941 | 97 | |
| Witwatersrand Tea Room, Restaurant and Catering Trade Employees' Union | 1930 | 994 |
General Secretaries
- 1930: William H. Andrews
- 1932: Alexander Gordon Forsyth
- 1937: Willie de Vries
- 1948: Alexander Gordon Forsyth
- 1951: Harry Boyder and Dulcie Hartwell
- 1953: Dulcie Hartwell
References
- Kiloh, Margaret; Sibeko, Archie (2000). A Fighting Union. Randburg: Ravan Press. p. xxxii. ISBN 0869755277.
- ^ Lewis, Jon (1984). Industrialisation and Trade Union Organization in South Africa, 1924-1955. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521263123.
- ^ "South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU)". South African History Online. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- Lichtenstein, Alex (March 2004). "'The Hope for White and Black'? Race, Labour and the State in South Africa and the United States, 1924-1956". Journal of Southern African Studies. 30 (1).
- Miller, Shirley (1982). Trade Unions in South Africa 1970-1980: a directory and statistics. Cape Town: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit. ISBN 0799204692.
- Simons, Harold; Simons, Ray (1987). One Hundred Years of Job Reservation on the South African Mines. International Labour Office. ISBN 9789221061588.
- Alexander, Peter (2000). Workers, War & the Origins of Apartheid. J. Currey. ISBN 9780852557655.