The Motor Industry Employees' Union 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 workers involved in vehicle building in

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 ...

. The union was founded under the influence of an employers' organisation, the Motor Industry Employers' Association, which wanted to deal with a single trade union representing all white and "coloured" workers in the industry. It was established in 1939, bringing together two unions, one based in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

and one in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, both of which had split away from the Amalgamated Engineering Union of South Africa. The union affiliated to the

South African Trades and Labour Council The South African Trades and Labour Council (SAT&LC) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was founded in 1930, when the South African Trades Union Council merged with the Cape Federation of Labour Unions. ...

, and by 1947, it had 4,753 members. The union transferred to the

Trade Union Council of South Africa The Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The council was founded in October 1954 by 61 unions which split from the South African Trades and Labour Council. They decided that on ...

(TUCSA), and in 1961, it was compelled to move its "coloured" membership to a new union, the

Motor Industry Combined Workers' Union The Motor Industry Combined Workers' Union (MICWU) was a trade union representing workers in vehicle manufacturing and servicing, and also petrol attendants, in South Africa. The union was founded in 1961, to represent "coloured" workers who had ...

. Despite this, by 1962, MIEU's membership had grown to 14,430. By 1982, it had disaffiliated from TUCSA, but continued to grow, with 23,000 members, all of whom were white. By 2003, the union principally represented technical employees in the industry. That year, it merged into the Motor Industry Staff Association.{{cite news , last1=Johnston , first1=Stuart , title=MISA calls for co-ordinated skills programme , url=https://autolive.co.za/newsletters/Autolive_29_05_2011.pdf , access-date=1 April 2021 , work=AutoLive , issue=1 , date=28 May 2011

References

Trade unions established in 1939 Trade unions disestablished in 2003 Trade unions in South Africa Vehicle industry trade unions