[1]: 344 In 1980, Rita Ndzanga and Mary Ntsike led a split which became GAWU.
[1]: 344 Its members were made up of people from the brush and copper industries, mining house office workers, cleaners, scooter drivers, and petrol and transport workers.
[1]: 344 Numerous local South African Congress of Trade Unions activists also joined, including Samson Ndou, Ephraim Shabangu, Samuel Pholoto and Sydney Mufamadi.
That year, it was a founding affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
[4] In 1987, it merged with the Health and Allied Workers' Union and the South African Allied Workers' Union, to form the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union.