JUNE-JULY, 1974 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Anyone disobeying these laws will he imprisoned, fined, ROMEO MAIONE The essential feature of the South African in- dustrial relations system is that the African workers, who constitute more than two-thirds of the labour force of the country, are excluded from participating in the system. There are, in effect, two distinct labour relations systems in force in South Africa. The first, which covers white, coloured (persons of mixed blood) and Asian workers, guarantees the rights of association and collective bargaining to trade unions registered under the law and, subject to certain exceptions and conditions, allows the right to strike. The second, which applies to African workers, denies any legal status to trade unions with African membership, excludes African workers from par- ticipation in the collective bargaining process and imposes an absolute prohibition, accompanied by severe penalties, on strikes by African workers. This dualism is one of the key elements of the whole apartheid system. Over the past 25 years, the South African government has steadfastly opposed the organization of black workers into labour unions. The only form of organization to which South African workers may belong under the law are “work committees.’’ Any company employing more than 20 workers can have these committees. These committees are not allowed to bargain; in fact, their role is limited to being consulted when disputes develop in the plant. Very few workers’ committees are functioning. - If black workers do not bargain for their wages, how are wages set in South Africa? Wages and conditions of work are decided by the Minister of Labour on the recommendations of the Wage Board, a body made up of white officials named by the minister. African workers are never consulted before their wages are set. Without collective bargaining which is permitted to white, coloured and Asian workers, the African workers live at barely the subsistence level. The following table shows exactly the effects of the lack of collective bargaining. Monthly average wage by racial groups Wh. Col. Asians Africans Mining $257 $54 $70 $13 Manufacturing 219 53 55 27 Construction 232 78 107 36 Banks 213 57 76 47 Government 186 57 58 30 Railway 210 3850 38 37 Agriculture _ 12 11 9 African trade unions have a long history. The first African trade union, the Industrial and Commerical Workers’ Union, was founded in 1918. Even with the Industrial Conciliation Act of 1924 which excluded from the definition of an ‘‘employee”’ all passbearing and recruited Africans, they continued to join unions. An African mine workers’ union was established in 1941. In 1944, the mineworkers, clothing workers and some other unions established the Council of Non- European Trade Unions with the purpose of fighting for legal recognition. The Council gradually ex- tended its membership and at its peak in 1945 claimed 79 affiliated unions with 158,000 members. From 1946 onwards, the Council gradually declined; and the mineworkers were forced to disband after their strike in August 1946 was ruthlessly sup- pressed. In 1948, with apartheid policies being enacted, African unions moved into the shadows. The government started to dismantle the trade union organization by placing 75 well known trade union leaders on the liquidator’s list; 35 were white, 12 coloured, seven Asians and 21 Africans. Fifty-six were forced to resign. In 1954, the new established Trade Union Council of South African (TUCSA) deci- ded by majority vote to confine membership to regis- tered unions thus excluding African unions. Some of the trade unions that disagreed with this decision met with members of the Council of Non- European Trade Unions in 1955 and established a new body, the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), which would give registered and African unions equal rights. By 1961, SACTU had reached its peak with a membership of 53,323. The vast majority of 38,791 were Africans with only 498 whites and the rest Asians and coloured. SACTU was soon subjected to government repression. By 1967 with all its leaders banned or in exile, SACTU had ceased to be able to carry on normal activities. TUCSA is the only trade union working in South Africa today. Some of the more far-sighted leaders of this organization have long been worried by the long term implications of Africans not being allowed to organize. African workers represent an increasingly large majority of workers in every sector of the South African economy. White workers are decreas- ing in every trade and white immigration is also on the decline. If it does not accept African workers in the ranks, TUSCA is condemned to a steady decline. With this pressure TUCSA agreed after 25 years to affiliate African unions. Yet even without trade unions, African workers are starting to use the strike weapon to move away from starvation wages. In June, 1972, over 300 bus drivers employed by the public transit authority who were earning about $21.50 a week went on strike asking for an increase to $60. After massive arrests, and four days of strike, the labour board accepted to set wages at the level of $34. In October, 72, African dock workers went on strike in Durban bringing the port to a standstill. Apart from their grievances on the question of wages (the existing minimum weekly wage was $6.00) the dockers complained about long African workers recruited for labour in South Africa are submitted to finger-printing for purposes of identification. (ILO Photo) and/or whipped: All Afncans over the age of 16 must produce a passbook on demand by a policeman No white person may have sexual relations with an African, Coloured or Indian person, And vice versa, Under no circumstances may an employer pay Africans the same rates as White persons even if they do the same work and work the same hours No Afncan may attend a birthday party if the number attending could make the gathering undesirable. An Afncan in an urban area who ts out of work must take work offered to him by the Bantu Affairs Commissioner or be removed from the area No African may strike for any reason whatsoever. Any Afncan who takes a job outside his town, even if he has lived there for 20) years, must leave that town Within 72 hours No Afncan may buy land, or own property, anywhere in the Republic. Under no circumstances may a non- white person use facilites set aside for the use of white persons. Unless they have obtained a speaal Permit to do so, a white person and a non-white person may not under any Circumstances drink a cup of tea together inva cafe. No white man may teach an African servant to read Byorder of the South African Ministry of Justice. working hours and other conditions of work. On October 24, 1972, coloured and African workers closed down the Capetown docks. There was a further escalation of labour unrest early in 1973. At the end of January, 30,000 African workers went on strike closing down 60 industrial and commercial establishments, seriously disrup- ting essential municipal services, including refuse | disposal. The strikers basically demanded the minimum wage of $14 per week which is recognized as being the poverty datum line in Durban (that is the minimum required to keep the average family at a basic subsistence level). After the usual arrests, the workers were forced to accept only a 15 per cent increase. The workers returned to work after eight days of strike. All of the myths held by the South African govern- ment are slowly melting away. ‘Africans are not mature enough to organize trade unions”’ is one of these myths. The recent strikes and the long history of African trade unions destroy. that myth. ‘The machinery of government can be a substitute for trade union rights’? was another myth that cannot be held any longer when one sees the growing gap between the wages of white and black workers. The myth that ‘industrial peace could be ensured by refusing blacks the right to organize’ has been shattered. ‘ Far from preventing Africans from going on strike, the lack of any framework for making their claims heard has driven African workers living on poverty wages to desperate measures. The ninth special report of the Director-General of the Inter- national Labour Organization on Apartheid in South Africa sums it all up: “To block the avenues of change or to force a showdown with the unions that are campaigning for the recognition of African trade union rights is not in the interest of any government which wishes -to guarantee lasting industiral peace. The choice is inescapable. It lies between refusing to abandon the present discriminatory policies which can only generate sharper division and further industrial chaos in the future and accepting the logic of change in the trade union field which offers the only remain- ing chance of establishing a stable industrial rela- tions system and of ultimately healing the rift in South Africa’s divided working class.” Romeo Maione is the director of the international affairs department of the CLC. CLC LABOUR HALL OF FAME NOMINEES OTTAWA — The executive (1876-1970) of the United cludes Claude Jodoin, A. R. Industry, a post to which he council of the Canadian Labour Congress has nominated two well-known figures from Canada’s labour history to the Labour Hall of Honour, CLC President Joe Morris announ- ced. Elected by the 30-member CLC executive council were Silby Barrett (1884-1959) of the United Mine Workers of America, and John W. Bruce Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumb- ing and Pipe Fitting Industry. The CLC executive council nominates two members each year to the Labour Hall of Honour. To be eligible nomi- ‘nees must be Canadian citizens and in retirement or deceased for at least five years. The Labour Hall of Honour, founded in 1972, already in- Mosher, J. S. Woodsworth and Percy Bengough. Silby Barrett was known for his prodigious memory, unfail- ing accuracy, and unimpeach- able common sense. He helped organize the Canadian miners in the United Mine Workers and became the first president of the union’s district 26. In 1936 he carried on the organization of steelworkers in Cape Breton and later played an important part in the for- mation of the Canadian Con- gress of Labour. He died in Toronto in 1959 at the age of 74. John W. Bruce joined the Plumbers’ Union in Australia at age 19. He moved to Canada in 1906 and was soon elected general organizer by the United Association of Journey- men and Apprentices, of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting was re-elected until his retire- ment. An Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Bruce was also very active in political movements; he helped form the Social Democratic Labour Party in 1908 and was elected president of the Independent Labour Party in 1917. He died in 1970 at Willow- dale, Ont., at the age of 94.