The South African Congress of Trade Unions

From the book: My Spirit Is Not Banned by Frances Baard and Barbie Schreiner

Anyway all this time I was still working with the Food and Canning Workers' Union and after a time, since my own union and other people's unions were well organized, there was a word from our head-office that we had to organize what we call SACTU (South African Congress of Trade Unions). All the unions there in Port Elizabeth took part in SACTU. I remember the Textile Workers' Union and the Food and Canning Workers' Union joined SACTU, but I can't remember the other unions that were involved. But it was the coloured and African trade unions that made SACTU. I don't think there were any white unions involved, not in Port Elizabeth. The slogan of SACTU, the motto or what, it was, 'An injury to one is an injury to all', so if anything bad is done to one worker we must all fight it as if it has been done to all of us.

SACTU opened an office in Port Elizabeth. I didn't work there; I used to work in my own office at the food and canning union, but I used to go to that office often. Messages would come through from SACTU head-office what campaign is going to be fought, or what we should be doing. The first thing that we had to do for" SACTU was we all had to go out and organize the unorganized workers. All the different unions that were in SACTU had a meeting at the office, and we decided this factory is unorganized (we knew which factories were unorganized) and this one and this one, and so-and-so must go here and here and so on. This was to organize the unorganized workers such as the cement workers, transport, and the sweet workers in Port Elizabeth. I remember these especially because I organized them. There were the Bay Transport workers in Port Elizabeth, the bus drivers and so on, and we organized them into a trade union. I remember after that they had a strike because they wanted more wages and because their hours were so ridiculous. They used to get up very early in the morning and they used to get off very late at night, and the money was not quite to their satisfaction, so they decided to stop work.

These workers were all staying in one location’ and I used to know some of them. I used to go to their places when I wanted to talk to them, and we used to have meetings with them in the location. I never had a car but if it was too far to walk where I had to go then I must catch a bus or train to get there. But with the transport workers it was much easier because we were all staying in one area, and we would call them and say they must meet at such-and-such a place at such-and-such a time.

So when they had these complaints and the management was not interested they had a big strike there. I told them that they mustn't stay in their houses; they must be at the gate of the depot every day because the employers start locking the gate now, you see. The workers must be there every day to see the management does not give the jobs to other people because then the strike will fail. All the buses were locked in and no one was driving buses. In the morning, when there was a good rush and all the people were going to work there were no buses, so they must all walk.

And the people too, in New Brighton, they were in sympathy with the drivers so they boycotted the buses and they walked to work for some weeks, maybe five weeks or so, maybe 20 miles each day some of them walked. That is how it should be, the people in solidarity with the workers.
Some of those drivers even went as far as Robben Island! remember I met one chap when I was at Sheshego. This man went, 'Haai! Yes, Frances!' But who are you?' I did not remember him. Hawu! I have just come back from Robben Island.' hat did you do? Why did you go?'

'Don't you remember? It was the time we were arrested with the buses in Port Elizabeth.' Then he began telling me his name, and I said: 'Haai! I have really forgotten you.'

He was telling me that he stayed six years or five years because of the strike. A lot of them stayed a long time in jail from that strike. I think after the strike the police started connecting them with other organizations, the ANC and what and what, and the Suppression of Communism Act and all that sort of thing. Ja, they stayed a long time in Robben Island, some of the chaps from the strike in Port Elizabeth.

That strike was successful too because the transport workers got their union, and the management had to pay them better wages. But I always told workers that strikes should be the last resort. Whatever they do, they must first try to negotiate with the management, and then only if he doesn't want to see eye-to-eye with them they must have a strike. Then they can't help it. So it was like that; they stroked because they were paid nearly nothing and they worked very hard. They had to get up at about three o'clock in the morning to be ready to fetch" the other workers and take them to work on the buses.

There was also a time when I used to get up with these drivers every morning to organize the workers at the queues. There was a depot there, a place where all the buses leave from, and I used to go there every morning. You see, when I would get to the factory the workers are always complaining that they are late because there are some people who just push when they come in the morning to the queue for the bus. So I decided on my own to go and arrange their queues every day. Every morning I used to catch the first bus at about three o'clock while it was still dark, and I used to arrange the queues of workers at the bus depot. Then, they never used to be late for work and they were so happy that I did that for them.

There was one time when even the 'baas' who was there at the buses wanted to hire me. He didn't know to whom did I belong, or what organization, so he thought, 'Well, this woman is of great use if we can hire her to do this work always.'

But then I think somebody said, 'Hey, if you take that one you must know that you have accepted the African National Congress and the trade union movement!

So he kept quiet, after he had spoken to me so nicely before!

But the workers kept asking me to come and do that arranging the queues for them, so I say, 'Ai tog, all right, I'll come!' And I did that for many months, doing it for nothing. I was not being paid because I was doing it on my own to help the workers.