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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Riches from Rags: Bosses and Unions in the Cape Clothing Industry, 1926-1937
Author:Nicol, Martin
Year:1983
Periodical:Journal of Southern African Studies
Volume:9
Issue:2
Period:April
Pages:239-257
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:trade unions
clothing industry
History and Exploration
Economics and Trade
Labor and Employment
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/2636302
Abstract:This article traces the relationship between the Cape Wholesale Clothing and Shirt Manufacturers Association (CWCMA) and the Garment Workers' Union of the Cape Peninsola (GWUCP) in the ten years prior to the formation of an industrial council in 1936. It shows that the power of the Minister of Labour to register one union in preference to another at a crucial time has equal possibilities for influencing the nature of trade unionism in an industry at an earlier stage. In the case of the Cape clothing industry, the Minister upheld the registration of a union committed to conciliation and collaboration with the employers (and having a press-ganged membership) against a union which insisted that workers could only advance their interests through strong organisation. The article also serves to illustrate (for the Cape clothing industry) the point, that while the Pact government did make concessions to white wage earners, these were not of such a magnitude as to undermine seriously the processes of capital accumulation. App., notes.
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