South African Federation of Trade Unions (1951)

South African trade union federation

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) was a national trade union federation of workers representing workers in South Africa.

The federation was founded in 1951, as a split from the South African Trades and Labour Council by right-wing unions which accepted apartheid and did not approve of black workers being given a role in governing trade unions. Some of the unions which split away were restricted to white workers, while others accepted "coloured" or Asian members, but none admitted black workers.[1][2][3]

The unions with a mixed membership, such as the South African Typographical Union, soon left to join the new Trade Union Council of South Africa, which similarly did not admit black workers. In 1957, the federation affiliated to the South African Confederation of Labour (SACOL). By 1962, it had 11 affiliates, with a total of 66,263 members. As SACOL became more centralised, SAFTU declined in importance, and it appears to have dissolved around 1980.[2]

Union | Membership (1962)[4]

|

Artisan Staff Association | 16,611
Cape Explosives Industrial Workers' Union | 486
Mine Workers' Union | 17,500
Natal Aluminium Workers' Union |
National Association of Furniture and Allied Industries | 1,516
National Baking Industrial Union |
Netherlands Bank of South Africa Staff Society |
South African Actors' Equity Association |
South African Airways Engineering Association | 740
South African Association of Municipal Employees | 18,070
South African Engine Drivers' and Firemen's Association | 4,538
South African Jockeys' Association | 60
South African Reduction Workers' Association | 3,300
South African Teleprinter Operators' Society | 270
Transvaal Explosives and Chemical Workers' Union | 600
Transvaal Retail Meat Trade Employees' Union | 980

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Simons, Harold; Simons, Ray (1987). One Hundred Years of Job Reservation on the South African Mines. International Labour Office. ISBN 9789221061588.
2. ^ a b Miller, Shirley (1982). Trade Unions in South Africa 1970-1980: a directory and statistics. Cape Town: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit. ISBN 0799204692.
3. ^ Jubber, Ken (1979). South Africa Industrial Relations and Industrial Sociology. Juta. ISBN 9780702110085.
4. ^ Wirtz, W. Willard (1966). Directory of Labor Organizations: Africa. Washington DC: Bureau of International Labor Affairs. pp. 39.25 – 39.28.39.25+-+39.28&rft.pub=Bureau+of+International+Labor+Affairs&rft.date=1966&rft.aulast=Wirtz&rft.aufirst=W.+Willard&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:South+African+Federation+of+Trade+Unions+(1951)" class="Z3988">