CHAPTER 5

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 5

TWO VITAL INGREDIENTS: LABOUR AND THE STATE.

Labour

This chapter will examine two important components in the South African textile industry up to 1948, which were the fledgling textile trade union movement and the constituted Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Limited (IDC) which came into being in 1940.

A trade union is defined as: "an association of employees formed to improve their income and working conditions by collective bargaining".' This definition would have not been unduly difficult to put into practice in a normal democratic society. However in South Africa such a position did not exist until 1994.

Another factor in the South African equation was that of colour as referred to in the Introduction to this thesis. Notwithstanding what could be considered

"common cause" being better conditions of employment, it was difficult to form a trade union in the textile industry.

A look at the beginning of the trade union movement in South Africa is relevant in order to do a scene set. The seeds of the trade union movement were sown by the arrival in South Africa of skilled labour from Britain, Australia and America to work in the gold and diamond mining industries, from the mid 1800s with unskilled labour being drawn from the local black population. The unions which these skilled workers formed were resented by mine management.² With the opening of the diamond and gold mines there was a shortage of skilled labour which resulted in there being no need for collective bargaining in order to secure satisfactory working conditions. The view was expressed "It may, therefore, be assumed that earlier unions, being off shoots of overseas organisations. were formed primarily for reason of prestige and sentiment",3

Numerous trade unions were established throughout South Africa catering for

2 Coli ins Concise English Dictionary third edition, p.1429.

Padayachee et ai, Indian Workers and Trade Unions in Durban 1930-1950, p.2.

their own particular trade or profession. At the turn of the century the fledgling textile industry in the form of blanket manufacturing was developing but an industry in the true sense of the word had not yet emerged so unions developed slowly in this sector. The textile industry was spreading geographically throughout South Africa and was not concentrated in anyone area, whereas if this had been the case it is conceivable that textile workers would have formed their union much sooner than they did. It was from these mills that the textile trade union movement would have to recruit its membership and by 1933 the total number of employees amounted to 2358 and by 1941 the figure was 3 71 1. Even if every textile worker had joined the union, and this would have been unlikely, it can be seen that the total strength would not have been very large. The geographical diversification of the mills are illustrated on the map, Chapter 2, Figure 13 which would have made it difficult to have a union of any great strength in one particular area.

The total membership of all trade unions made up of all race groups for the period 1 933 to 1941 appears in Table 1 belOW, and when the total workforce employed in the textile industry for the same period is compared with the total membership of all trade unions, it can be seen that textile trade unions were an exceptionally small percentage of the total.

Table 1 : Number of employees in the blanket industry compared with total of all trade union members (for registered and unregistered unions)

covering the period 1933 to 1941 inclusive, for all race groups, on a national basis

Year Total membership Number of Blanket Percentage of trade unions Industry Employees of Total

1933 106350 2358 2.22

1934 ¹²⁶³⁴⁶ 2602 2.06

1935 150543 2611 1.73

1936 189003 2930 1.55

1937 223537 3082 1.38

1938 ^{253651 3 105 1.22}

1939 ^{264446 3194 1.21}

1940 ²⁷²⁴⁸⁷ 3523 1.29

1941 289130 3711 1.28

Note 1. The total membership of trade umons, p. 111, appendiX S, H G Rmgrose, Trade Unions in Natal.

Note 2. Number of employees in the blanket industry, BTI Report 290, p.?, Table 1.

Note 3: Even if every employee in the blanket industry had joined the textile trade union, which

,

H.G. Ringrose, Trade Unions in Natal, p.4

IS unlikely, this table illustrates the small membership compared with the total membership of all trade unions confirming the relative weakness of the textile trade unions in its formative years.

The trade union position in South Africa was not only affected by the relationship between workers and management, but an added element was the racial factor where the white worker was protected at all times and in turn the racial aspect was broken down further into Black, Indian and Coloured categories. Over one hundred years ago in 1893 the industrial colour bar was already operating, having been introduced by the Transvaal Volksraad to protect the European workers, laws that would operate at the expense of the indentured Chinese labour as well as Black labour.' In 1922 the general strike on the Rand took place with loss of life, with the government ending it by force.

In short the government was historically anti· trade unions.

About 1900 it was reported that the textile workers in Cape Town were working a sixty hour week, 7.30 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. with a 1 hour break and were paid 19/- per week. For "normal hours" (which has not been defined) the pay was11/- per week' and the working conditions were very difficult. By 1933 the starting wage was £1 for a 48 hour weeks The weakness of the textile union was illustrated when a dispute took place and the Labour Department ruled that:

"we should be paid arrears wages which involved hundreds of pounds. I alone was due over £1 00. We went to the directors with a very strong deputation but the bosses would only give us a total of £100". This was accepted as the union was not then strong enough fight for more but eventually £156 was obtained and shared by nine workers, a long way short of £100 each.7 A schedule was published by the Textile Workers' Union covering the period 1930 to 1959 reflecting the wage increases the union negotiated for its members, in various geographical areas as well as various products manufactured in the textile industry. Even though this thesis terminates in 1948, the total period of the schedule from 1930 to 1960 (Table 2) is stated .

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5

,

P.l. Wickens, Economic History of South Africa, p.26 ed. F.L. Cateman.

25 Proud Years - The Story of the Textile Workers' Union (September 1959), p.S. The style of presentation in this publication is one of a trade union canvasser speaking to prospective members outside mill premises during the workers' lunch and tea breaks.

Ibid, p.S.