Die Spoorbond was an
Afrikaner railway
trade-union formed in 1934 by , founder of the
Afrikaner Broederbond, which advocated a policy of replacing all black railway-workers with Afrikaners. It rejected
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
s and called instead for loyal service to the
South African Railways and Harbours Administration The South African Railways and Harbours Administration (SAR&H) was established on 31 May 1910 with formation of the Union of South Africa by the amalgamation of the four colonial railways and all harbours in South Africa - about 11,000 kilometres of ...
(SARHA). The union had a membership of some 16,000 in the 1930s, considerably more than that of its rival, the
National Union of Railway and Harbour Servants, which was forced to dissolve in 1937.
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]
In 1941, SARHA decided to recognise different unions for each section of workers. This restricted die Spoorbond to representing only those seen as the least skilled, mostly labourers. The union resisted this, leading SARHA to found a rival Railworkers' Union, but in 1949 it agreed to the group representation.
The union joined the
Federal Consultative Council of South African Railways and Harbours Staff Associations, and later affiliated to the
Co-ordinating Council of South African Trade Unions
The Co-ordinating Council of South African Trade Unions (CCSATU) was a national trade union federation of white workers in South Africa.
The South African Trades and Labour Council (SAT&LC) included all unions, but a minority of its affiliates opp ...
,
then to the
South African Confederation of Labour. By 1980 it had 6,300 members. In 1982, it amended its constitution to allow it to admit all workers, regardless of ethnicity, although it did not immediately start doing so.
References
Defunct trade unions in South Africa
Trade unions established in 1934
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