A profile of unregistered union members in Durban
Date
1978-09
Authors
Webster, E.C.
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Abstract
The role and potential of trade unions among African workers has moved
over the last five years from a peripheral to a central issue in
industrial relations in S.A. Government attitudes have changed from a
determination to exclude African trade unions by promoting an alternat.
in-plant committee structure, to the establishment of a Commission of
Inquiry into Labour Legislation with a clear indication on the part of
the Chairman that trade unionism is a right for all workers (1).
Some employer associations have chanqed from outriaht
hostility to support in principle for the right of African workers to
negotiate on the same basis as non-Africans (2). Although the
antagonism or indifference of the registered trade union movement
continues, the decision of TUCSA in 1973 to allow African trade unions
to affiliate, signals a growing awareness among the more far-sighted
registered trade union leadership that the future of the trade union
movement lies with Coloured and African workers (3). The growing
internationalization of industrial relations in S.A. through the
publication of employers "codes of conduct" as a response to the
increasing pressure on foreign investors to withdraw, is further
evidence of this change (4).
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented September 1978
Keywords
Labor unions. South Africa