The South African Allied Workers' Union (SAAWU) 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 was founded in 1978 as a split from the Black Allied Workers' Union by workers 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 ...

. The executives of the BAWU were expelled and the members reconstituted themselves into a new union. It described itself as a federation, with a union in each industry, but this structure was never properly developed, and it was generally viewed as being a single union. By 1980, it had 75,034 members.{{cite book , last1=Miller , first1=Shirley , title=Trade Unions in South Africa 1970-1980: a directory and statistics , date=1982 , publisher=Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit , location=Cape Town , isbn=0799204692 In that year to, its headquarters had moved from Durban to

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. In 1981, the union had organised itself into divisions unionising labour in the chemical, sweets, beverage, transport, and other industries. It also convinced the National Federation of Black Workers and its twenty-six affiliates to join its federation in 1981. The union refused to register with the

Government of South Africa The Government of South Africa, or South African Government, is the national government of the Republic of South Africa, a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary ...

as required by the ''Labour Relations Act''. It quickly developed strength in

, where it recruited both employed and unemployed workers. By 1982, most of its leadership had been detained by the country's security forces, including general secretary Sam Kikine. Its remaining leaders fell into conflict with one another, and the union declined. In 1985, 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 ...

, and in 1987 it merged with the Health and Allied Workers' Union and the General and Allied Workers' Union, 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

General unions Trade unions established in 1978 Trade unions disestablished in 1987 Trade unions in South Africa