UFIL' UMUNTU, UFlC USADIKIZA! Trade Unions and Struggles for Democracy and Freedom in South Africa, 1973 - 2003 The title of this booklet, "Ufil' Umuntu, Ufil'Usadikiza!" (The person is dead but hislher spirit is alive!), is a slogan which was chanted by the workers during the Durban strikes of 1973 . - --- KHANYA ?CCOLLz EDUCATITION FO~ILIBERATION Published by KHANYA College 0Khanya College 2005 This book is meant for educational puposes. Any individuals or organisations that wish to make use of the contents in the book for educational puposes that are not for profit are free to do so. We only request that you acknowledge our work. Page Number ISBN 0-620-33970-5 Design 0jon berndt DESIGN INTRODUCTION All photographs copyright resides with the acknowledged photographers or photographic archive. THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOKLET Black and White Photograph on front cover: William Matlala LIST OF ACRONYMS CHAPTER ONE: The working class on the eve of the Durban strikes CHAPTER TWO: Durban strikes and the reawakening of the working class CHAPTER THREE The birth of a new trade union movement CHAPTER FOUR Apartheid capitalism and the crisis of the 1980s CHAPTER FIVE The response of the capitalists, the state and working class CHAPTER SIX From apartheid capitalism to non-racial capitalism CHAPTER SEVEN The end of the cycle of struggle It has been such a long road by Alfred Temba Qabula Recommended Sources for further information r The 1973 strikes in Durban and the subsequent wave of worker uprisings are regarded as t This booklet has been researched by the staff of the Khanya Working Class History I important landmarks in the making of the South African labour movement. The strike wave I Programme, a division of Khanya College in Johannesburg. South Africa. The Rora and the consequent revival of the labour movement have a direct bearing on the present labour Luxemburg Foundation funded the research, writing and the production of the booklet. The movement. Key working class organisations that constitute the present labour movement can programme would like to thank Sakhela Buhlungu, lecturer in the Sociology Department at the trace their origins back to the 1973 strike wave. The Congress of South African Trade Unions University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and Dinga Sikwebu, the National Education (COSATU), the country's biggest trade union federation can also trace its roots back to the strikes Officer of the National Union of Metalworkers' of South Africa (NUMSA), for commenting on the of 1973 and commemorates its twentieth anniversary in 2005. initial drafts of the booklet. Beulah Thumbadoo proof read the booklet. Over and above this, the traditions established by the Durban strikes and the struggles it gave rise to have greatly influenced the way we understand democracy and politics in South The structure of the booklet Africa. Some of these traditions and practices, such as the shop steward movement, the This booklet is divided into seven chapters. principle of workers' control and other democratic practices, continue to inspire those who are struggling for democracy in working class organisations and in society at large. Union Chapter One discusses the state of the working class and its various organisations and struggles practices such as leadership accountability, regular election of shop stewards and attempts to on the eve of the 1973 Durban strikes. establish participatory democracy were replicated and adapted in student, civic and other mass organisations during the struggle against apartheid. Chapter Two examines the strikes in Durban in 1973 and the responses of the state and the liberation movement. Purpose of the booklet By writing this booklet we are not only commemorating the present labour movement and its Chapter Three discusses the nationwide spread of workers' struggles and the formation and roots, but we also seek to understand the various struggles that were waged by the modern consolidation of the labour movement. It also refers to the key labour law reforms introduced as a labour movement. We think that an understanding of these struggles and traditions they gave birth result of worker struggles in the 1970s. to will assist with building organisations of the oppressed in the context of present-day struggles against globalisation. Chapter Four describes and traces the origins of the economic and political crises of the 1980s. This booklet is aimed at activists in trade unions, social movements, urban and rural communities, informal sector organisations, church organisations and service organisations. Its Chapter Five examines the responses of the state and the capitalist class on one hand, and the aim is to provide activists with an overview of the labour movement, its history, struggles, issues working class and its organisations on the other, to the crises. and debates since the Durban strikes of 1973. It seeks to provide information to activists to facilitate debates and discussions, to help them draw organisational and strategic lessons that Chapter Six discusses the transition from apartheid capitalism to non-racial capitalism. Key issues can be used in the process of building organisations and struggles against neo-liberalism. of the transition such as the negotiations, violence, the 1994 general elections, the changing nature of trade unions and struggles in the post-apartheid period, are examined. Chapter Seven makes critical remarks about the present state of the labour movement since the Durban strikes of 1973. I LIST OF ACRONYMS MM Anti-Apartheid Movement l AFCWU African Food and Canning Workers' Union l ANC African National Congress THE WORKING CLASS ON THE EVE OF THE ARMSCOR Armaments Corporation of South Africa DURBAN STRIKES AZACTU Azanian Council of Trade Unions AZASO Azanian Students Organisation This chapter discusses the manufacturing sector and the growth of the BAW U Black Allied Workers' Union 1 working class; the crisis of capitalism and the rise of the National Party; key BWP Black Workers Project struggles in the 1950s; repression and the expansion of the urban working CCAWUSA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union class in the 1960s and struggles on eve of the Durban strikes of 1973. CCOBTU Consultative Committee of Black Trade Unions COSAS Congress of South African Students COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CNETU Council of Non-European Unions CPSA Communist Party of South Africa CUSA Council of Unions of South Africa CWlU Chemical Workers Industrial Union FOSATU Federation of South African Trade Unions FCWU Food and Canning Workers' Union GWU General Workers' Union ICFTU lnternational Confederation of Free Trade Unions IMF lnternational Metalworkers' Federation IMF International Monetary Fund ISCOR Iron and Steel Corporation MACWUSA Motor Assembly Components Workers' Union of South Africa MAWU Metal and Allied Workers Union NAAWU National Automobile and Allied Workers Union NP National Party NEUM Non-European Unity Movement NUM National Union of Mineworkers NUMARWOSA National Union of Motor and Rubber Workers of South Africa NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa NUSAS National Union of South African Students NUTW National Union of Textile Workers PAC Pan African Congress SMWU South African Allied Workers' Union SACTU South African Council of Trade Unions SAS0 South African Student Organisation SASOL South African Synthetic Oil and Lubricants SRC Student Representative Council TAWU Transport and Allied Workers Union TGWU Transport and General Workers Unions TUACC Trade Union Advisory Coordinating Committee TUC The British Trade Union Council . TUCSA Trade Union Council of South Africa orld War 2 led to the expansion of the manufacturing sector UAWU United Automobile, Rubber and Allied Workers' Union \v because some of the countries that were involved in the war UDF United Democratic Front purchased goods and services from South Africa. In addition. South UTP Urban Training Project Africa could not import goods from Britain on the same scale as before. WPGWU Western Province General Workers' Union These two developments led to increased demand on local industries WPWAB Western Province Workers' Advice Bureau l and this stimulated the growth of manufacturing. The sector's output grew by 81.6% between 1939 and1944. The growth of manufacturing was accompanied by the intensive use of machinery and changes in employment patterns. The number of black workers employed in the Capitalism in crisis and the rise of the National Party sector increased dramatically. ~y the end of the 1940s the South African economy was in cr~sis In the post war period South African companies faced new because of the following factors: challenges such as competition from overseas companies and an increase in resistance among working people. There were also struggles The growth in the mining industry during World War 2 had not and mobilisation in black townships such as Sophiatown, Martindale translated into increased profitability. and squatter areas around Johannesburg. The black urban working class was involved in transport strikes in some areas surrounding The "reserves", or homelands as they were later called, could no Johannesburg. The number of strikes increased from 730 in 1940 to longer support the people living there, and this created problems for 84 035 in 1946. In 1944 the Council of Non-European Trade Unions the continued sustainability of the cheap labour system. (CNETU) led a major strike by milling workers and in 1946 a strike by African mineworkers shook the mining industry and government. Black The militancy of the black trade unions in the 1940s - for example workers were joining unions in large numbers, with some 258 000 the black mine workers strike in 1946 - threatened the cheap labour workers in 119 unions under the CNETU in 1945. Approximately 40% of system. African workers in all industries were unionised. This period also saw an increasing politicisation of black working The broader black population had also become militant and various class communities. Campaigns were built around the right to vote . organisations like ANC, the Non-European Unity Movement (NEUM) and opposition to racist laws.