Dulcie Hartwell

Dulcie Marie Hartwell (18 October 1915[1] – 30 October 2012) was a South Africa trade union leader.

Born in Johannesburg, Hartwell's mother died when Dulcie was three years old. The family then struggled for money, and Hartwell had to leave school early. In 1933, she began working in the clothing industry, and joined the Garment Workers' Union of South Africa (GWUSA). By 1937, she was working as an organiser for GWUSA, and was also secretary of the Johannesburg Sweet Workers' Union.[2]

Hartwell worked closely with Solly Sachs, the general secretary of GWUSA, and the two married in 1942. Hartwell next became secretary of the clothing industry unemployment fund, then its medical aid society.[2][3]

In 1951, Hartwell and Sachs separated.[3] That year, she became general secretary of the South African Trades and Labour Council, then of its successor, the Trade Union Council of South Africa, which excluded black workers. In 1962, she switched to become secretary of the National Union of Distributive Workers and the National Union of Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers, then later the merged National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers.[2][4]

Hartwell retired to Cape Town and died in 2012.[2][5]

  1. ^ Kay, Ernest (1969). The Two Thousand Women of Achievement. Kay, Sons and Daughter. p. 353.
  2. ^ a b c d Alexander, Peter (2000). Workers, War & the Origins of Apartheid. J. Currey. p. 134. ISBN 9780852557655.
  3. ^ a b Verwey, E.J. (1999). New Dictionary of South African Biography, Volume 1. HSRC Press. pp. 220–221. ISBN 9780796916488.
  4. ^ "TRADE UNION COUNCIL OF SOUTH AFRICA, PART 2, 1955-1985". Historical Papers Research Archive. University of the Witwatersrand. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Deaths". The Mercury. 11 November 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2021.