Max Gordon (1 April 1910 – 10 May 1977) was a South African trade union leader and

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

activist. Born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

as Max Livetsky, his father died when he was young. He was adopted, and his surname was changed to "Gordon". He studied at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

, and while there joined the

Workers Party of South Africa The Workers Party of South Africa (WPSA) was the first Trotskyist organisation in South Africa to have a national base. It published a regular newspaper, ''Spark''. The party was founded in 1935 by the majority of the Cape Town-based Lenin Club ...

, a Trotskyist organisation. In 1935, Gordon relocated to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

to work as an industrial chemist. He also became the leader of the

African Laundry Workers' Union The African Laundry Workers' Union was a trade union representing cleaning workers in South Africa. The union was founded in 1927, on the initiative of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and it was a founding affiliate of the Federation of ...

. The union was nearly defunct, and although he was initially able to revive it, an unofficial strike the following year proved a major setback. Gordon decided to work with the registered trade unions to improve the position of black workers, and was able increase

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

s in several industries, and win back-pay for many workers. The South African Institute for Race Relations began to support his work, and from 1938 the Bantu Welfare Trust paid him a wage, enabling him to work full time as a trade union organiser. Gordon established numerous unions, in bakeries, dairies, print works and also in distribution, in addition to an African General Workers' Union. In 1940, he established the Joint Committee of African Trade Unions, whose affiliates had a total of around 20,000 members. However, Gordon opposed both sides in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and so in 1941 was interned. He was released a year later, by which time the Joint Committee had split, many unions becoming part of the

Council of Non-European Trade Unions The Council of Non-European Trade Unions (CNETU) was a national trade union federation bringing together unions representing black workers in South Africa. The federation was established in November 1941, with the merger of the Non-European Trade ...

. Instead, he moved to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often 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 Municipality, Sou ...

, where he founded six new trade unions, but the white labour movement refused to support him, and the South African government threatened him with further internment if he persisted. Gordon decided he could make no further progress, and emigrated to London. Later in life, Gordon returned to

, where he worked for Gerber Goldschmidt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Max 1910 births 1977 deaths South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African trade unionists South African Trotskyists