The Durban Indian Municipal Employees' Society (DIMES) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representing municipal workers of Indian origin, in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

in South Africa. The union was founded in 1936, and by 1943, it had 2,450 members. It affiliated to the South African Trades and Labour Council. In the 1940s, the union was led by Billy Peters, a member of the Communist Party of South Africa. It opposed

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, and in 1955 was a founding affiliate of the inclusive

South African Congress of Trade Unions The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was established in March 1955, after right wing unions dissolved the South African Trades and Labour Council in 1954 t ...

(SACTU). One of the federation's larger affiliates, in 1962, it had about 1,600 members. However, the union's leadership had moved to the right, and when SACTU was banned, they switched its membership to the more conservative Trade Union Council of South Africa. In 1980, the union was permitted to accept all workers, regardless of ethnicity, and in recognition of this, it changed its name to the Durban Integrated Municipal Employees' Society. After obtaining a 20% pay increase in 1988, it attracted many members of the formerly white union, and grew rapidly. In 1990, it became the Democratic Integrated Municipal Employees' Society, and by 1992, it had about 13,000 members. On 1 July 1994, it merged into 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 web , title=Murugan, Nad , url=https://scnc.ukzn.ac.za/doc/audio/TranscriptsORIGFINALFULL/Murugan,Nad.doc , website=University of Durban-Westville , access-date=25 April 2021

References

Durban Municipal workers' trade unions Trade unions established in 1936 Trade unions disestablished in 1994 Public sector trade unions in South Africa 1936 establishments in South Africa 1994 disestablishments in South Africa