The South African Trades Union Congress (TUC) was a national trade union federation in

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

. The council was established in 1924, as the South African Association of Employees' Organisations. It was founded at a special congress, held after the collapse of the

South African Industrial Federation The South African Industrial Federation (SAIF) was established in 1914 as an amalgamation of the Industrial Federations in the provinces of South Africa. The federation attracted most of the trades unions in the country. It had a policy of suppo ...

, which was called by the

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

, Frederic Creswell. All the affiliated unions were registered under the Industrial Conciliation Act 1924 and represented white workers. The federation was expected to be very moderate, but unexpectedly elected the leading communist Bill Andrews as its general secretary.Wessel Visser
'Exporting Trade Unionism and Labour Politics: the British Influence on the early South African Labour Movement'
''New Contree'' 49 (2005), 145-62 As president, it elected

Jimmy Briggs James Briggs (8 April 1937 – 9 April 2011) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a full back. Briggs played the majority of his career with Dundee United, making nearly 400 appearances and captaining the side when they defea ...

, a Labour Party Senator. The unexpected radicalism of the federation led some long-established unions not to affiliate, while the Mine Workers' Union and

South African Typographical Union The South African Typographical Union (SATU) is a trade union representing workers in the printing and media industries in South Africa. The union was founded on 5 January 1898 by six local unions, including the Durban Typographical Society. Man ...

soon resigned their membership. They were replaced by small

industrial union Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

s, many open to all workers. The federation also began working closely with the

South African Federation of Non-European Trade Unions South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. In 1930, the federation merged with the

Cape Federation of Labour Unions The Cape Federation of Labour Unions (CFLU) was a trade union federation in South Africa. The federation was founded in 1913. It aimed to represent all workers in the Cape Province, although most of its membership consisted of unions representing ...

, forming the South African Trades and Labour Council.

Affiliates

The federation's founding affiliates were:

References

Defunct trade unions in South Africa Trade unions established in 1924 Trade unions disestablished in 1930 {{SouthAfrica-trade-union-stub