liberation struggle. Foster *Where virtually all the population is reteless and oppressed by minority then a great alliance of all casses is both necessary strategy. building such an alliance was a great task.
'The ANC had to overcome racial division so as to rise above the divisive racism of the oppressors. deal with opportunistic tribal leadership, to organise thousands thousands of people and they had to do al: this in the tace of harsh repression by the state. In achieving this there is little wonder that the ANC rose to be one of the great liberation movements in Africa.' stated dustry a racial and a clear against the Furthermore, by the ANC at the time.
In They had to upon only be made basis.' TU's Present Role', that: 'SACTU this basis.' have been that 1970s.
organisation the Wiehan sup- that plant based recognition rights were not lost. Mass LIU W vice- of legal openings by FOSATU He FOSATU built ture Worker worker turing workers, metal workers were the of existence of industrial on building up its workplace and inorganisation. FOSATU's tactical choices in fighting for trade union organisation were undoubtedly correct ANC dominated SACTU unions unions decisively influenced SACTU Gaetsewe, general secretary of SACTU, was still writing that 'Repression of trade union activity, (in South Africa) means that in the long term, meaningful advances can an underground As late as June 1982, in a major statement of position entitled 'SAC- long SACTU argued underground. And there is nothing to was forced this suggest that the apartheid regime will earlier ever tolerate a strong, progressive and open trade union movement for very long. It would be a mistake to act on FOSATU however took exactly the opposite factical line to that being urg ed by SACTU. Using the type of tactics which, if they had been theorised might described as 'Leninist', FOSATU utilised to the full the legal openings which began to emerge in the FOSATU decided to take the tacical decision to legany regisier, ol a non-racial basis, under the proposals of Commission recognising black trade unions in South Africa. FOSATU also allowed its affiliated unions to participate in the Industrial Councils in South Africa - provided bargaining Far from being opportunist these tacues were an extremery mteligent use were totally vindicated by the results.
relatively strongly centralised trade union strucfar more strongly centralised than any of its rivals — with its decisive base in the heavy industrial manufacIransport sector. Car workers, food manufacturing workers, and transport of FOSATU's CULE membershop. FOSATU also specificaladopted the organisational form of the organising - the SAA WU, the General and Allied Workers Union, and the National Federation of Workers previously SACTU affiliated Food and Canning Workers Union were, in contrast, minority currents at the moment of the formation of the FOSATU and NUM dominated COSATU struggle over orientation to building the between FOSATU influenced and dominated unions, FOSATU was thoroughly vinBut while the tactical differences which existed between COSATU and ANC SACTU dominated unions were very real - - and were differences over which FOSATU was proved correct - they obscured the much more fundamental, and therefore in the much similarities in key political principles between the ANC and FOSATU. It was agreement which, despite tactical differences, provided the basis for the decisive step forward. CoSAir in polities, of the creation of inauwe beteve de county das a lul racial future and therefore we must be August 1985 equally was because of the principle of non-racialism, which was already being written in as one of the founding principles of COSATU and formed a basis of the united front federation which the NUM supported.
the ANC on the fundamental political principle of non-racialism meant that despite the sharp tactical differences on how to organise the unions the political way was always open for a convergence between the union federation and the decisive, ANC and FOSATU was alșo evidently strengthened by the cooperation betthe organising the Transvaal general strike of November 1984 — the highest point of the mass movement in South Africa snit lis postulons on tne unions lon the earlier line of SACTU. A 1983 statement called for 'flexibility' on the part of all unions to achieve unity. Difunion support for the agreement of FOSATU with staying out of COSATU but the largest CUSA to join COSATU. FOSATU in contrast joined COSATU in a totally TU aligned unions were a minority in tical positions on how build the political positions, above all the total #sistence ou non-racialisin, ineviab The victory of the trade union tac tics of FOSATU, the common position of FOSATU and the ANC on the issue of non-racialism, the agreement on the necessity of united action on the basis apartheid the political positions of COSATU — and has tenis MacShane, Martin Plaul. David 4
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The road te COSATU