The Municipal Workers' Union of South Africa (MWUSA) 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 local government workers in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

History

The union was founded in 1980, as the Black Municipal Workers' Union. It had 9,000 members and was based in

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 ...

. Two years later, a section of the union led by Dlamini split away, to form the rival South African Black Municipal and Allied Workers' Union. The majority later changed the union's name to the Municipal and General Workers' Union of South Africa, and then in 1985 shortened it to the "Municipal Workers' Union of South Africa". That year, it was a founding affiliate of 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 ...

, at which point it had 9,249 members. Two years later, it merged with the Cape Town Municipal Workers' Association and sections of other unions, to form the

South African Municipal Workers' Union The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) is the largest union in local government in South Africa. History The union was founded on 24 October 1987, when the Municipal Workers' Union of South Africa merged with the Cape Town Municipal ...

.{{cite book , last1=Musi , first1=Mojalefa , title=Evaluating IMATU and SAMWU policy responses to Igoli 2002 , date=2010 , publisher=University of the Witwatersrand , location=Johannesburg

General Secretaries

:1980: J. Mavi :1980s: Johnson Gamede

References

Municipal workers' trade unions Trade unions established in 1980 Trade unions disestablished in 1987 Trade unions in South Africa