[1][2] In 1936, the Natal Industrial Council was founded, on which the GWIU played a leading role, and it achieved an agreement on pay and conditions, which was extended to black workers in 1937.
[1][2] In 1964, James Bolton died, and the leadership of the union was taken over by his wife, Harriet.
In 1971, she organised a protest of 31,000 workers over low pay, and also opened new offices for the union, named Bolton Hall.
The following year, it was invited to become part of the new Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers' Union of South Africa, but it refused to join in sympathy with the Garment Workers' Union of the Western Province (GWU-WP), which was not permitted to join.
Instead, on 5 December, it merged with the GWU-WP, to form the Garment and Allied Workers' Union of South Africa.