South African Women Trade Unionists: Activism in Trade Unions and Community/Political Organisations (1973 - 2003)

This research will examine women?s activism within the South African trade union movement from the period 1973 through to 2003. It wants to investigate the factors that contributed to the mobilisation of women into the trade union movement during the period under study and to understand how their activism influenced their gender consciousness. This research will move from the premise that in order to fully understand the mobilisation of women into trade union activities, comprehension of the extent to which the socio-political surrounding influenced women?s political consciousness and then subsequently their working class consciousness, is important. Therefore, one of the objectives of this research is to look at women?s activism within their communities. To what extent were women involved in their community organisations or struggles within their communities and how has this involvement influenced their trade union activism? Central in this research is the issue of gender consciousness and how women created opportunities for demanding gender equality and that women?s rights in the workplace be regarded as trade union issues. Thus by looking at women?s activism within trade unions as well as community organisations, the research aims to examine the importance of such interaction in the development of their gender consciousness, which was in turn central in their struggles for gender equality within the unions and the broader society, particularly during the transition to a democratic society. In 1992 after the formation of the Women?s National Coalition, women activists ensured that women workers? rights were guaranteed in the Constitution of a democratic South Africa. Indeed the period after the democratisation of South Africa presented a different context for women?s activism and certainly new opportunities. The research will analyse this period and examine the new challenges faced by women trade unionists and how they have addressed those new challenges. Information for the study will be gathered through various methods. These will include reviewing primary and secondary research material as well as in-depth oral interviews with women who have been activists during the period understudy. The interviews will be conducted in the Gauteng region as it is one of the main areas where most of the political activities took place during the period understudy.