South African Domestic Workers' Union

The South African Domestic Workers' Union (SADWU) was a trade union representing domestic staff in South Africa.

The union was founded in 1986, with the merger of the South African Domestic Workers' Association (SADWA), the East London Domestic Workers' Union, the Port Elizabeth Domestic Workers' Union, the National Domestic Workers Union, and the Domestic Workers' Union. Like SADWA, it affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions, with 52,000 members.^[1][2][3]

Despite its size, the union struggled; it was not permitted to register as a union, and its members were not able to engage in official conciliation or collective bargaining. By 1993, it had shrunk to 16,172 members, and in 1998 it dissolved entirely.^[4]

References

1. Gwynn, Bennett. "Overcoming Adversity from All Angles: The Struggle of the Domestic Worker during Apartheid by Bennett Gwynn". South African History Online. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
2. "Domestic workers unite". Learn & Teach (1). 1987.
3. Wessels, Tersia Susara (2006). The development impact of the Domestic Workers Development Project on its participants (PDF). Pretoria: University of South Africa. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
4. "About us". South African Domestic Services and Allied Workers Union. Retrieved 4 April 2021.