The Municipal Workers' Union of South Africa (MWUSA) 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 local government workers 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 ...

History

The union was founded in 1980, as the Black Municipal Workers' Union. It had 9,000 members and was based 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 ...

. Two years later, a section of the union led by Dlamini split away, to form the rival South African Black Municipal and Allied Workers' Union. The majority later changed the union's name to the Municipal and General Workers' Union of South Africa, and then in 1985 shortened it to the "Municipal Workers' Union of South Africa". 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 ...

, at which point it had 9,249 members. Two years later, it merged with the Cape Town Municipal Workers' Association and sections of other unions, to form 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 book , last1=Musi , first1=Mojalefa , title=Evaluating IMATU and SAMWU policy responses to Igoli 2002 , date=2010 , publisher=University of the Witwatersrand , location=Johannesburg

General Secretaries

:1980: J. Mavi :1980s: Johnson Gamede

References

Municipal workers' trade unions Trade unions established in 1980 Trade unions disestablished in 1987 Public sector trade unions in South Africa 1980 establishments in South Africa 1987 disestablishments in South Africa