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The Underground Officials' Association (UOA) was a trade union representing supervisors in the mining industry in South Africa. The union was founded in 1918. It accepted only white workers, and prided itself on not operating a closed shop and never holding a strike. It registered with the Government of South Africa in 1924. By 1980, it had 14,462 members, and that year, it began accepting all workers holding supervisory positions in the mines. In 1983, the union finally agreed with the government to open all mining supervisory positions to non-white workers. By 1985, it had affiliated to the
Federation of Salaried Staff Associations The Federation of South African Labour Unions (FEDSAL) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was established in 1959, as the Federation of Salaried Staff Associations, by four unions representing white-colla ...
.{{cite journal , title=Functional federations and consultative councils , journal=South African Labour Bulletin , date=October 1985 , url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/DC/LaOct85/LaOct85.pdf , access-date=24 March 2021 It had obtained a closed shop agreement, but deputy general secretary Koos Bezuidenhout believed that this would not endure, and that it should merge with other unions in the industry. General secretary Rennier de Waal opposed the idea, but despite this, the African Explosives Company Incorporated Staff Association, and the Industrial Salaried Staff Association, merged in, and the union renamed itself as the Officials' Association of South Africa (OASA). On 1 April 1998, the union merged with the
Administrative, Technical and Electronic Association of South Africa The Administrative, Technical and Electronic Association of South Africa (ATEASA) was a trade union representing supervisory workers in South Africa. The union was established in 1996, when the Administrative and Technical Officials' Association ...
, to form the
United Association of South Africa The UASA is a general union in South Africa. Background The union was founded on 1 April 1998, when the Administrative, Technical and Electronic Association of South Africa merged with the Underground Officials' Association. It affiliated to ...
.


References

Mining trade unions Trade unions established in 1918 Trade unions disestablished in 1998 Trade unions in South Africa