Category Archives: 1973 Durban Strikes

The New Age: Workers’ Power Thrives On Unity

http://thinkingafricarhodesuniversity.blogspot.com/2013/01/workers-power-thrives-on-unity.html

Workers’ Power Thrives On Unity

by Steven Friedman

The Durban strikes of 1973 empowered workers and helped destroy apartheid.

This month 40 years ago, South Africa learned an important truth which shaped our future – that people without power can challenge those who have it, but only if they act together.

The lesson was taught by the Durban strikes of 1973; they began a process which shifted power to working people and played an important role in defeating apartheid.

First, the strikes triggered the formation of unions which fought long battles with a few employers to win the right to negotiate. These unions became the core of the Federation of SA Trade Unions which combined with other unions to form Cosatu in the mid-1980s. So they were, in a sense, the beginning of today’s union movement. Continue reading