m - DISA

Baper* (LK8), beceuoe of *ta anti-union ecUvitiee
auoh as tha sdthdreeal of atop order facilities and
the victimisation of union leaders. Tha outcoas of
tha conauear boycott raelnde ona of tha acre recent
dispute at Fettl's and Mania, share a boycott of
products vat launched In support of tha workers 1
Oasasnde, In 1909, as in the latter emm, tha FCwu
son recognition fro" aanagasint, and antarad into mn
agrooaant ow wages snd working conditions.
FCSU and A-FCWJ aara involvad in a large nueber
of activities underteksn by tha Congress Alliance
(anion Involvad tha African National Congress,
Congress of Oaaocrata, tha South African Indian
Congress, Colourad Paoplaa" Congrass, and tha
9outh African Congress of Trada Unions]* Tha unions
playad a asjor rola in tha formation of tha South
African Congrass of Trada Uniona (SACTU), ahich aaa
tha trada union wing of tha Congraas Allianca, and
aelntalnod effiliation to SAcru until such tlaa as
state repression foread SACTU into exile.
Tha diaput* at UOB, refar red to* above, intagrally
Involvad tha FCfU'e relationship to tha Congrass
Allianca through Its affiliation to SACTU, Tha
coneuaer boycott or U03 producta was led by
Congraasp snd raproaantaUvas of tha Allianca sore
involvad In negotiations alth UCB during tha course
of tha dispute.
•hen the Bantu Education Act eas passed, FCSU
supported the AHC's call for a boycott of bantu
education schools. The union eleo psrtidpated
in activities related to the Congress of the
People. Miefcin of the FCWU aanagaaant conlttee
attended an August 1954 conference to plan the
Kliptoen congress, end union aaabire eat up groups
to discuss ahat the Congress of the People eaa about,
FCSU and A-FGW eere involved in SACTU'* 1957
£1 e dey campaign, end union ewasbers esre prominent
in aoee of the stay-et-*oas oella of the period.
For eneple, a 3-day stay-eeay e i celled in May
1961, oppoaing the declaretion of South Afrioa as
a napubllc. The cell received slssd and petohy
aupport, but on the Rand, Tflt of food end cennlng
workers stdyed away froe wort for the whole 3-day
period-
But it eould be e eistaks to see the union es
e 'paper organlaatlon 1 , involved in national politics
to the detriesnt of factory floor organisation. Froe
its formation in 1941, FC*U grew in strength, faming
branches over the western and eastern Cape, and up
the eest coast, A separate union ese foraid in
Johannesburg end Durben, end in 1903 thla
aMlgaaatad vlth FCVu to fore e netlonelly-beeed
union.
At SACTU'a inaugural conference, held in March
195S. FCWU ees the largeet union repreeented $
(9 000 •ewfcsrs), with A-TOW bslng the third
largest (3 600 eaebsrs). By 1*2, FOV had 8 052
*a**ers, ahile A-fCtu hed groan to include 9 565
neebare. Indeed, the unions saaaad to be
strengthened by their affiliation to SACTu, and in
turn eere e beck-bone of SACTU ectlvltlea. One
union offlciel explained this in the following way:
Zt la not enough Juet to be effilleted. In
every toan share our Union la in existence we
auat help SACTU to organise the unorganleed
workers and build SACTU into e powerful
all-in national trade union centre.
Oeaplte the forael existence of teo separate
unions, a high dsgres of non-recial sorting clssa
unity has bean displayed by union aeabart over aeny
years. One exaaple of this involved the 1997 striks
St BpwkhewVwse Food Products, in Cspe Toan. Initially,
coloured workers froa tha FCWU sent on strike, but
ahsn A-FCWU •aetjari arrived et the factory gatee,
they Joined the striks. 27 african eortere were
charged as a reault, and et the trlel one explained:
I didn't have anything to gain for ayself. The
reason I didn't go to sort was thst I wanted to .
support ay Coloured brother workers who eere on
strike.
During the course of this striks, the *
congraas organlsatlona (AW, 8AXP0, COD and SACTU) sent
e Joint delegation to see Spekhenhaa asnsgeesnt ebout
re-opening negotiations with the striking eortare.
The 19SS InduetrUl ConcilUtion Aasnosjsnt Act
ettacksd the Internal scope end regulation of
registered unions: no further 'mixed* unions eould
be registered, already existing 'aixed' unions sere
to be compelled to separate into unl-raclal branches,
and racially lntegratad congreeses snd shop-floor
esMtlnga were prohibited. Tha aajorlty of SACTU
affiliates* being unregistered unions, eere not
effected by this Act, but soaa of the best organised
snd strongest unione eare registered. Ona of these
eas the FCWU.
Initially, SACTU atteapted to fox* a united front
of trade union groupe to oppoae the legislation, but
TUCGA end the other co-ordinating bodies prefsrred
to oppoae SACTU rather than the goverrasent in poser.
A two-year debate over the issue of rag 1st ration
took piece In SACTU: the optlone posed involved the
formation of unl-racial uniona; dividing unione into
racial branches; or de-regicterlng in defiance of
the lew. Oscar Ifciethe, who until his detention in
I960 wee still organising for A-FUU, aaa one of those
aho ergued for de-registration et the tlae.
Finally, FCJU reluctontly decided to comply with
tha nee Act: while expressing total opposition to
It, the union felt that until there eas greetar unity
in the trade union eovaeent it eould rejasln registered.
Given the growing strength and influence of
m u end A-fcwu, It eas inevitable that action eould
be taken against the unione. 8oae etteapte to awaken
thee involved edsdnistrativs action. For exaaple, in
195? tha lege Board claiaed that FCVU wee
'unrepresentative' end could therefore not partlcipete
in the Board's investigation of the induetry. Thie
was despite the fact that FC*J had -era than SI*
of eorkere in the industry unionised.
In 1958 ths «ege Board actually lapoeed cuts for
certeln cetegoriee of eorkere in the food snd canning
Industry, evwj only the union's strength end relation-
snip to ths Congress Alliance prevented these sage
cute froe being lapleswsntad. At ebout the asm tlae,
the Induetry wae daclered •essential' by govsrnaant,
evening that there eas a total prohibition on all
strike activity,
llth tha passing of tha 1900 Suppression of
Cosvjunlaa Act, government began rawoving trade union
offlciala fro- their union position*. In 1963 the