The Garment and Allied Workers' Union of South Africa (GAWU) was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representing clothing workers in South Africa. The union was established on 5 December 1987, when the

Garment Workers' Industrial Union The Garment Workers' Industrial Union (GWIU) was a trade union representing clothing workers in South Africa. The union was established on 2 August 1934 by James Bolton in Natal. Bolton was already the leader of the Furniture Workers' Industrial ...

merged with the

Garment Workers' Union of the Western Province The Garment Workers' Union of the Western Province (GWU-WP) was a trade union representing workers in the clothing industry in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The union was founded in 1933 by Harry Evans as the Garment Workers' Union o ...

. It initially had 102,000 members, the large majority in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, but also with some strength in

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

. The new union requested affiliation to the

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions ...

(COSATU). However, the COSATU's policy was that there should only be one union per industry, and so asked GAWU to merge with the

Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers' Union of South Africa The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers' Union of South Africa (ACTWUSA) was a trade union representing workers in the garment and fabric industries in South Africa. The union was founded in 1987, when the National Union of Textile Workers m ...

(ACTWUSA). In the meantime, it granted it only observer status.{{cite journal , title=Garment and textile giant , journal=Labour Bulletin , date=June 1989 , pages=102–106 , url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/archive-files/LaJun89.0377.5429.014.002.Jun1989.18.pdf , access-date=4 March 2021 Under the leadership of Desmond Sampson, the union took more radical positions than either of its forerunners. It engaged in major strikes during 1988, and during the year, it also absorbed the South African Textile and Allied Workers' Union. On 16 September 1989, it completed a merger with ACTWUSA, to form the

Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) is the biggest union in the South African clothing, textile, footwear and leather industry, with more than 100 000 members. It negotiates wages for the vast majority of workers i ...

References

Clothing industry trade unions Trade unions established in 1987 Trade unions disestablished in 1989 Trade unions in South Africa