National Federation of Workers

The National Federation of Workers (NFW) was a national trade union federation in South Africa.

The federation was established in 1980, as a split from the Black Allied Workers' Union.[1] Based in Durban, it was led by Matthew Oliphant and Themba Nxumalo, both of whom were also linked with the banned South African Congress of Trade Unions.[2] By 1985, the federation had the following affiliates:[3]

Union Abbreviation Membership (1985)[3]
Brick, Clay and Allied Workers' Union BRICKAWU 1,262
Cleaning Services and Allied Workers' Union CSAWU 1,050
Commercial Distributive Workers' Union CDWU 2,050
Health and Allied Workers' Union HAWU 2,000
National Post Office and Allied Workers' Union NAPAWU 3,900
National General Workers' Union and Retail and Allied Workers' Union NGWU/RAWU 6,057
National Iron, Steel and Metal Workers' Union NISMAWU 2,279

NISMAWU left the federation early in the year. In November 1985, the federation dissolved itself into the new Congress of South African Trade Unions, with NISMAWU also joining the new federation.[3]

  1. ^ Miller, Shirley (1982). Trade Unions in South Africa 1970-1980: a directory and statistics. Cape Town: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit. ISBN 0799204692.
  2. ^ The road to democracy in South Africa (PDF). South African Democracy Education Trust. 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Directory: South Africa's Independent Unions" (PDF). South African History Online. Retrieved 15 March 2021.