Has 85 000 members on stop order, making it the dominant union in the fashion manufacturing industry, locally, and the biggest in our industry globally.
Organises workers in the clothing, textile, leather, footwear, distribution and allied industries.
Is the 6th largest affiliate of COSATU.
Is the largest trade union in Cape Town, Atlantis, Dimbaza, Botshabelo, Mogwase, Qwa Qwa, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Isithebe and many other towns.
Has its origins in the organisation of Afrikaner woman in Joburg (1920’s), African textile workers in the Eastern Cape (1940’s), Indian workers in Durban (1940’s), the strikers of the hugely significant 1973 Durban strikes and the unionisation of workers in Cape Town in the 1980’s.
Organises 1499 workplaces or companies in the sector.
Has 20 offices across the country in Salt River, Atlantis, Paarl, Oudtshoorn, Port Elizabeth, East London, King Williams Town, Durban, Tongaat, Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Pinetown, Isisthebe, Port Shepstone, Joburg, Pretoria, Kimberley, Botshabelo, Puthaditjhaba
Salt River, Woodstock, Cape Town, Epping, Maitland, Diep River, Wynberg, Observatory, Bellville, Parow, Elsies River, Brackenfell, Atlantis, Darling, Mamre, Paarl, Worcester, George, Oudtshoorn. Port Elizabeth, East London, Dimbaza, King Williams Town, Gcuwa, Jefferys Bay, Despatch, Uitenhage
Durban, Phoenix, Mobeni, Pinetown, Tongaat, Mooi River, Estcourt, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Port Shepstone, Isithebe, Pietermaritzburg.
Collective Bargaining – providing wage coverage for over 100 000 workers, or 600 000 South African family members, through 7 central negotiations and 112 plant level agreements.
Job security – negotiating alternatives to closures, retrenchments and liquidations, and lobbying for jobs with government.
Member benefits – providing R4,4 million in funeral benefits to members and dependents, in 4800 payouts a year.
Promoting higher education – sponsoring ±1000 students at universities, institutes of technology and colleges, and contributing R4,5 million in bursaries every year.
Member complaints – assisting 80 000 members through a network of 1 800 workplace shop stewards at 1499 organised workplaces.
Health education – running a unique HIV/AIDS industry service reaching 40 000 workers annually with a focussed awareness message,trained 1000 shop stewards every year and deliver a free voluntary counselling and testing programme for members that have seen more than 30 000 workers counselled and tested in 2009 alone
Health services – co-managing 6 clinics in the Cape in residential and industrial areas, covering 100 000 members and dependents, plus a clinic in Johannesburg and Durban each.
Building basic education – providing literacy and numeracy programmes at 200 primary schools nation-wide through the Edupeg programme, reaching over 2 million (in total since Edupeg was started by SACTWU) learners.
Developing shop floor leadership – training more than 1000 shop stewards annually in labour law, representation skills and problem solving.
Job advocacy – through initiating the Proudly South Africa campaign during the 1998 Job Summit negotiation, and launching the Cape Town Fashion Festival.
Promoting vocational and workplace training – through co-managing the CTFL and W&R Sector Education and Training Authorities.
Disseminating information and communication technology skills – through partnerships with institutes of technology that have seen worker leaders graduate in our Computer School.
Helping high school students – through a unique Matric Winter School programme that has assisted 2800 students to date. (From 2000 onwards).
Creating employment – through ownership of one factory in the industry that employs a total of 130 workers, through investments in companies that employs in excess of 24 000 workers inside and outside the industry, through contributing to the labour Job Creation Trust, as well as through Policy measures that protect tens of thousands of jobs of the union’s membership
Charmaine Sonti, Cape Town Organiser, assists worker
DURING THE PAST 36 MONTHS, SACTWU HAS:
Managed a budget of R140million;
Taken up more than 1000 cases at the CCMA or Bargaining Council;
Recruited 48 500 new members;
Paid out R17 million in bursaries to over 5000 recipients
Held more than 1600 meetings at either branch, regional or national level;
Educated 5760 shop stewards, in over 200 union education courses
Spent R2 million to build unionism in Africa
Provided over 43000 members with VCT
SACTWU REPRESENTATIVES:
SACTWU delegates serve on a number of key decision-making bodies. These include:
International – Executive of the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers Federation.
SETA’s – the Clothing, Textile Leather and Footwear and the Wholesale and Retail trade SETA,s.
Industry policy and advocacy bodies – Cotton Board, Cape Town Fashion Council, ITAC, Tack Teams,Fridge Counter Port Groups
Social dialogue institutions – NEDLAC.
Bargaining Councils – Clothing, Canvass, Textiles and Leather Bargaining Councils, as well as Medical Benefit Committees, Provident Fund Committees and Labour Affairs Committees.
Labour Policy Structures – COSATU Executive, COSATU National Office Bearers Committee, Job Creation Trust..
