General and Allied Workers' Union

The General and Allied Workers' Union (GAWU) was a general union in South Africa.

Background

The union originated as the Transvaal section of the Black Allied Workers' Union.^[1]: 344 In 1980, Rita Ndzanga and Mary Ntsike led a split which became GAWU. It formed as a non-racial union.^[1]: 344 Its members were made up of people from the brush and copper industries, mining house office workers, cleaners, scooter drivers, and petrol and transport workers.^[1]: 344 Numerous local South African Congress of Trade Unions activists also joined, including Samson Ndou, Ephraim Shabangu, Samuel Pholoto and Sydney Mufamadi.^[2][3]

By 1985, the union had 19,076 members. That year, it was a founding affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.^[4] In 1987, it merged with the Health and Allied Workers' Union and the South African Allied Workers' Union, to form the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union.^[5]

References

1. Davies, Rob; O'Meara, Dan; Dlamini, Sipho (1984). The Struggle for South Africa. Vol. 2. London: Zed Books. ISBN 0862322561 – via Internet Archive.
2. 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. The road to democracy in South Africa (PDF). South African Democracy Education Trust. 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
4. "COSATU turns 20!". NUMSA. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
5. Bendix, Sonia (1996). Industrial Relations in the New South Africa. Cape Town: Creda Press. ISBN 0702134538.