[2] In the 1940s, the union was led by Billy Peters, a member of the Communist Party of South Africa.
It opposed apartheid, and in 1955 was a founding affiliate of the inclusive South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU).
[1] In 1980, the union was permitted to accept all workers, regardless of ethnicity, and in recognition of this, it changed its name to the Durban Integrated Municipal Employees' Society.
After obtaining a 20% pay increase in 1988, it attracted many members of the formerly white union, and grew rapidly.
On 1 July 1994, it merged into the South African Municipal Workers' Union.