Divisions of Labour: Racist Trade Unionism in the Iron, Steel, Engineering and Metallurgical Industries of Post-War South Africa¶
Stuart Coupe (1995). Divisions of Labour: Racist Trade Unionism in the Iron, Steel, Engineering and Metallurgical Industries of Post-War South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 21, No. 3. Taylor & Francis.
| Type | journal article |
| Scope | Economics and economic history of apartheid |
| Method | archival narrative |
| Period studied | 1945–1982 |
| Regions | Witwatersrand/East Rand, Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban, South Africa |
| Themes | unions strikes, labour markets wages, manufacturing industrial policy, business and state, politics ideology elections, resistance social movements, education human capital |
| Citation key | coupe1995 |
Argument¶
Coupe argues that conflict over the role of white labour continued after 1945, and that the industrial colour bar in iron, steel and engineering was a major concern as mechanisation proceeded. Nationalist state intervention to extend craft-union privilege to Afrikaans-speaking whites lower down the occupational ladder, together with struggles between English- and Afrikaans-speaking union leaders, entrenched exclusion of blacks from apprenticeships. Employers (SEIFSA) responded to scarcity-driven pay demands from artisans by phasing whites out of operative grades and fragmenting artisan work, and ISCOR endorsed this in 1976. White unions' drift into open racism made TUCSA's 'moderate' unionism untenable. Coloured operatives, organised within the Industrial Council system, became a bridgehead for the later mass black union movement. The article qualifies the Simons' thesis of a racial minority perpetuating rigidities on an industrial base: the strategies sustaining racial hierarchy were crumbling under skilled-labour shortages.
Evidence and method¶
Archival records of TUCSA and the Iron Moulders Society (Wits Cullen Library), Germiston City Council records, and Department of Labour reports. Also contemporary press (Star, Rand Daily Mail, Financial Mail), the Race Relations Survey, Horrell's statistics, Bendix's 1976 UNISA report, and the author's interviews (de Jager, Biesheuvel, Scheepers, East) from 1989-90. Draws on his Oxford D.Phil thesis.
Place in the debates¶
- Industrial colour bar: free-market vs Marxist structuralist explanations (see The job colour bar, white labour and its erosion). Rejects both the free-market doctrine (Hutt) and the structuralist 'fractions of capital' approach (Davies). He follows the Simons in stressing the independent agency of organised white labour in demanding colour bars, and calls the fractions-of-capital theory one that has not stood the test of time.
- Apartheid and economic performance/productivity (see Did the apartheid economy fail? Growth, productivity, investment and the post-1970s crisis). Endorses Moll's view of 'disastrous' productivity and argues that the industrial relations system of racial job protection contributed substantially to it, though it may be impossible to quantify.
- Deskilling vs state-sponsored racism as the source of decline of apprenticeship-based craft unionism (see The job colour bar, white labour and its erosion). Accepts Webster's deskilling argument but contends that Nationalist government interventions have been underrated as a source of the decline of apprenticeship and of deteriorating race relations.
- Were white workers a working class or a new petty bourgeoisie? (see The job colour bar, white labour and its erosion). Rejects Davies's claim that white workers were part of a 'new petit bourgeoisie'.
Findings¶
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Metals and engineering employment grew enormously in the post-war decades. (p. 453)
In 1943 there was a total of 70,000 workers in the sector: by 1963 this had reached 225,000.
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Black employment in the sector doubled while white employment stayed static, yet skilled needs had to be met almost wholly from whites. (p. 454)
Whilst the industry's black workforce doubled in size over 18 years, the level of white employment remained virtually static.
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Coloured and Indian apprentices were squeezed out while white numbers barely rose. (p. 455)
the number of coloured and Indian apprentices had dwindled to 1,429 from 3,822 over the same period.
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The state's role in manufacturing capital formation in the 1950s was large, exceeding British nationalisation levels. (p. 454)
Table 1 shows that government activity through the 1950s accounted for more than one third of capital formation in the manufacturing sector.
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Employers shed white operatives despite job reservation: their share fell sharply. (p. 459)
the share of white operatives in the metal sector dropped from 24.5% in 1959 to 15.7% in 1965.
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Job reservation failed to hold because African labour remained cheaper even at higher agreed rates. (p. 460)
even at higher rates of pay, African workers were still cheaper to employ because their employment carried with it no sick pay or pension payments.
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By 1968 race rather than training defined entry to artisan grades, a change employers pushed and craft unions resisted. (p. 461)
whiteness, rather than apprenticeship training, became the principal criterion for employment in the artisan grades.
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ISCOR's 1976 move marked a watershed, with the state sector joining capital in demanding African advancement. (p. 462)
to 'convert to Black incumbents as many posts as may be practicable' and train black workers 'for future acquisition of technical skills'.
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Black industrial workers were largely outside organised unionism by the 1960s. (p. 466)
a large industrial proletariat was building up in South Africa which was completely out of the reach of the trade union movement as constituted.
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TUCSA's attempt to include African unions provoked white craft-union withdrawals. (p. 466)
In spite of threats from Marais Viljoen, in April 1968 TUCSA's congress voted to continue to allow these unions to affiliate. At this point SAEWA withdrew
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Growth of the black workforce undermined industrial apartheid and fed later union struggles. (p. 471)
The objective reality of the growth of the black workforce between 1950 and 1970 proved to be the achilles heel of apartheid in the industrial sector.
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Records of the Trade Union Council of South Africa, 1955-1986 (TUCSA2), William Cullen Library, University of the Witwatersrand (files Ab 4.2.59, Ab 4.2.60, Ab 4.2.85, Da2, Dba 35.1, Cal.1, Ae2, Db2.9 etc.) | union or movement records | 1955-1986 | Correspondence, memoranda and minutes document union rivalries, apprenticeship disputes, the motor industry (MIEU/MICWU), the RTEAWU and SAEWA, and TUCSA's internal tensions. |
| Records of Iron Moulders Society (IMS), including biennial conference reports, NEC reports and ICISEM negotiation minutes 1970 | union or movement records | 1955-1971 | Show craft union attitudes toward coloured members, the Industrial Conciliation Act, and 1970 ICISEM negotiations over overtime and white labour shortage. |
| Records of the Garment Workers Union, Dac3.6.8 (R. Kraft, Analysis of Work done by African Affairs Committee, 1966) | union or movement records | 1966 | Assessment of the TUCSA African Affairs Committee's work. |
| Intermediate Archives Depot, Johannesburg, Records of Germiston City Council, 491/45/52, Germiston Industries Association minutes 1964 | state archives | 1964 | Evidence of employers' mortgage subsidies to retain artisans. |
| Interviews by the author: A. O. de Jager (ICISEM General Secretary), Simon Biesheuvel, Anna Scheepers, Des East | interviews oral history | 1989-1990 | Provide recollections of union culture, workforce size, productivity norms, ISCOR attitudes and organising in the coloured workforce and motor industry. |
| M. Horrell, South Africa's Non-White Workers (1956) and South Africa's Workers (1969) (SAIRR compilations) | secondary literature compilation | 1949/50-1968 | Source for Table 2 employment by race, white operative share 1959-65, and Table 3 union organisation rates by race in 1968. |
| Race Relations Survey (1955-1956), (1961), (1970) | secondary literature compilation | 1955-1970 | Apprentice numbers by race in secondary industry and the Minister of Labour's statement on job reservation. |
| D. L. van Coller, 'State Direction of Funds Into Industry Since 1948' (B.Litt., Oxford, 1963) | secondary literature compilation | 1951-1960 | Table 1 on gross capital formation by public corporations and private manufacturing. |
| Third Interim Report of the Industrial and Agricultural Requirements Commission (Van Eck Commission) (UG 40-41) | commission or official report | 1941 | Shows wartime state policy to give whites priority in skilled and operative work. |
| Department of Labour, Lab. 585(A), Report of the National Apprenticeship Board on a review of the apprenticeship system (1960), via J. Lewis | commission or official report | 1960 | Cited for the Board's decision that apprentices failing trade tests keep journeyman status. |
| Department of Labour, Work Reservation, its Background, Motivation and Application (Pretoria, 1960) | commission or official report | 1960 | Official statement of the rationale of job reservation. |
| Newspapers: Star, Rand Daily Mail, Sunday Times, Financial Mail, Eastern Province Herald, Natal Mercury, Saamtrek | newspapers periodicals | 1956-1974 | Source for statements by unionists, employers and ministers, job reservation controversies, and TUCSA conflicts. |
| Trade and union periodicals: AEU Monthly Journal, Metalworker, Crucible, Industry and Trade, The Manufacturer, Engineer and Foundryman, Power | newspapers periodicals | 1955-1976 | Illustrate employer and union rhetoric on white worker inefficiency and racial attitudes. |
| TUCSA, Proceedings of 8th Annual Conference, East London, March 1962 | union or movement records | 1962 | Records the AEU's dissent on admitting African unions. |
| D. W. F. Bendix, The Manpower Situation and Black Labour in the SA Motor Repair Shop Industry (Institute of Labour Relations, UNISA, 1976) | commission or official report | 1976 | Provides evidence on productivity, repair shop assistant ratios, and the effects of the closed shop in motor repair. |
| S. P. K. Hall and N. van Schalkwyk, Investigation into Management and Personnel Practices at Volkswagen (S.A.) (NIPR, 1975) | commission or official report | 1975 | Shows that racist foremen blocked Volkswagen management's productivity strategy. |
| Industrial Conciliation Act 1956 (and 1961 amendment), Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act 1953, Apprenticeship Act 1944; ICISEM Main Agreements 1968 and 1970 | legislation gazette | 1944-1970 | Establish the statutory framework of job reservation, racial union segregation and industrial council agreements. |
| Secondary data: Horwitz, The Political Economy of South Africa (1967); Moll (1991) on 1950-1985 data; Levy (1981); Lewis (1984); Webster (1985); Davies (1979); Kaplan and Morris (1976) | secondary literature compilation | 1943-1985 | Supply workforce totals (70,000 in 1943 to 225,000 in 1963), foreign subsidiaries, productivity context and labour process background. |
Inference¶
Quantification: Illustrative figures.
Archival and interview-based qualitative case study of unions and employer organisations in the metal, engineering and motor industries, supported by a few tables of secondary statistics (Horrell) and reported speeches and press, interpreted against a Simons-style account of white labourism.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Whites' employment in the sector stayed virtually static while the black workforce doubled, so the share of white operatives fell sharply (24.5% in 1959 to 15.7% in 1965). (p. 459) | Horrell's SAIRR figures (Table 2 and p. 100), taken from secondary compilation. | Partial data |
| Apprenticeship became ineffective for enforcing skill scarcity because of discipline problems and state intervention, so the 1968 ICISEM agreement made whiteness the criterion for artisan grades. (p. 461) | Press reports, TUCSA archive and Webster's account, plus the National Apprenticeship Board report cited via Lewis. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Nationalist government intervention, through ISTA and job reservation, fostered rivalry within white labour and entrenched racial exclusion in the craft unions. (p. 456) | TUCSA and IMS archives, newspapers (Star, Saamtrek, Rand Daily Mail) and interviews on the van der Berg/ISTA and MIEU/WMEU cases. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Employers (SEIFSA) responded to artisan scarcity by paying ad hoc premiums, restructuring work and reducing white employment in operative grades, and ISCOR endorsed African advancement in 1976. (p. 462) | Rand Daily Mail, ICISEM negotiation minutes in the IMS records, an ISCOR letter in the TUCSA archive and Kaplan and Morris. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Job reservation failed to keep operative categories white in engineering, since African workers remained cheaper even at higher rates of pay. (p. 460) | Piercy article, press reports and ICISEM wage determinations, without wage or employment data. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| By the 1960s a large black industrial proletariat was outside the reach of the trade union movement, shown by low organisation rates among black workers in metal. (p. 466) | Table 3 from Horrell's 1968 figures. | Partial data |
| White-worker racism within the craft unions drove the AEU and other white unions out of TUCSA in 1966-69, undermining its moderate non-racial claim. (p. 466) | Newspapers (Rand Daily Mail, Natal Mercury), TUCSA proceedings and archival correspondence. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| In the motor industry, the MIEU used the closed shop and its training powers to obstruct coloured apprenticeship, until employers and coloured unionists broke this in the late 1970s. (p. 468) | TUCSA archive correspondence, Bendix's 1976 report, Rand Daily Mail and an interview with Des East. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
The author's caveats¶
The author notes that it may prove impossible to quantify the contributions of different factors to poor productivity (following Moll). He describes the conclusion on white labourism as speculative.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The argument rests on selected archival letters, press quotations and a few interviews, with no systematic wage, productivity, apprenticeship-completion or occupational-census data to test claims about deskilling, overtime and absenteeism. Industrial Council wage schedules, Department of Labour job reservation determinations, SEIFSA/ISCOR records and census or manufacturing-census occupational data by race existed then and could test the timing of dilution. Employer-side archives (SEIFSA) are barely used, and the interview evidence comes mostly from union officials.
Replicability: Data described but not public.