Early trade unions were often for whites only, with organizations like the South African Confederation of Labour (SACoL) favouring employment policies based on racial discrimination.
[3] Mary Fitzgerald is considered the first female South African trade unionist and who led many strikes and sit ins before 1911.
[5]: 482 The ICU was initially a union for black and coloured dockworkers in Cape Town and formed by Clements Kadalie and Arthur F.
The strike was broken by the police brutality which was part of the rise of the National Party (NP) and their slogan of apartheid as all black trade unions were violently suppressed.
The union embraced four "pillars" of action - armed struggle, mass mobilisation (ungovernability), international solidarity, and underground operation.
In the following June up to 200 trade union officials, including Elijah Barayi and Jay Naidoo of the COSATU, and Phiroshaw Camay, the general secretary of the CUSA, were reported to be arrested under a renewed state of emergency.
This was to be short-lived, and negotiations between COSATU, NACTU and the South African Committee on Labour Affairs (SACOLA) eventually produced a 1991 amendment which effectively repealed the previous powers.
Three institutions have also been created to further the goals of reducing industrial relations conflict, eliminating unfair discrimination and redressing past discrimination in the workplace: the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), the Labour Court and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
The 2006 ICFTU Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights noted South Africa: "Serious violations were reported during the year, including the death of two workers killed by their employer in a wage dispute, and a striking farm worker killed by security guards.
"[10]South Africa has one of the largest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the world, with a 2005 estimate of 5.5 million people living with HIV, 12.4% of its population.
COSATU is a key partner in the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a registered charity and political force working to educate and promote understanding about HIV/AIDS, and to prevent new infections, as well as push for greater access to antiretrovirals.
"It was clear to the labour movement at that time that its lowest paid members were dying because they couldn’t afford medicines," stated Theodora Steel, Campaigns Coordinator at COSATU.
"[13] Notwithstanding the formal alliance of COSATU with the ruling ANC, it has been at odds with the government by calling for the rollout of comprehensive public access to antiretroviral drugs.
However, employee who are conscientious objectors and refuse membership in a trade union on the grounds of conscience, they may request for their fees to be paid to a fund administered by the Department of Labour.