The General and Allied Workers' Union (GAWU) was a

general union A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gen ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Background

The union originated as the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

section of the Black Allied Workers' Union. In 1980, Rita Ndzanga and Mary Ntsike led a split which resulted in the formation of GAWU. It formed as a non-racial union. Its members were made up of people from the brush and copper industries, mining house office workers, cleaners, scooter drivers, and petrol and transport workers. Numerous local

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 ...

activists also joined, including Samson Ndou, Ephraim Shabangu, Samuel Pholoto and

Sydney Mufamadi Fholisani Sydney Mufamadi (born 28 February 1959) is a South African politician. He was Minister of Safety and Security from 1994 to 1999 and Minister of Provincial and Local Government from 1999 to 2008. Early life Mufamadi was born on 28 Fe ...

. By 1985, the union had 19,076 members. That year, it was a founding affiliate of the

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU or Cosatu) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union ...

. In 1987, it merged with the Health and Allied Workers' Union and the

South African Allied Workers' Union The South African Allied Workers' Union (SAAWU) was a general union in South Africa. Background The union was founded in 1978 as a split from the Black Allied Workers' Union by workers in Durban. The executives of the BAWU were expelled and the ...

, to form the

National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU) is a trade union in South Africa. With a membership of 276,000 it is the largest public sector union in the country. It organizes State, Health, Education and Welfare workers. H ...

References

{{Authority control General unions Defunct trade unions in South Africa Trade unions established in 1980 Trade unions disestablished in 1987 Trade unions in South Africa