Food and Canning Workers' Union
The Food and Canning Workers' Union (FCWU) was a trade union representing food processing workers in South Africa. Its members were mainly based in the Western and Eastern Cape. It was affiliate with the African Food and Canning Workers' Union (AFCWU).
Background
The union was established in 1941 by
In 1945 it obtained a Wage Determination for the fish canning industry which improved wages and working conditions.[3] After the National Party won in 1948, and with the establishment of its Apartheid policy, it would suffer the banning of several Secretary's and other union officials.[2]: 343 It was a founding member of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) in 1955 and made up a third of the latter union's affiliate members with many of its leaders becoming prominent in that union.[2]: 343
The union went through a lengthy decline, but it was re-established in 1977.[1] By 1979, it had about 25,000 members, and that year, it organised a successful consumer boycott,[4] and the following year, this led to an agreement with Fattis & Monis.[1]
In about 1980, the union absorbed the African Food and Canning Workers' Union, which represented black workers. The union did not affiliate to the Federation of South African Trade Unions, being more openly political than its members, joining the United Democratic Front.[1] In 1982, Neil Aggett was the leader of the union, though unpaid.[2]: 343 He was detained on 27 November 1981 and died in detention.[2]: 344
The union was a founding affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions in 1985, the longest-established union to join. The following year, it amalgamated with the Sweet, Food and Allied Workers' Union and the Retail and Allied Workers' Union, to form the Food and Allied Workers Union.[1]
General Secretaries
- 1941: Ray Alexander
- 1953: Becky Lan
- 1956: Liz Abrahams
- 1964: John Mentoor
- 1976: Jan Theron
References
- ^ ISBN 0702134538.
- ^ ISBN 0862322561– via Internet Archive.
- ^ "About FAWU". Food and Allied Workers Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ISBN 0869755277.