1973 Durban strikes

Wages and working conditions (early 1970s) In 1970, approximately 80 percent of jobs within South Africa's private sector paid black African workers below the poverty datum line which was set at R18 per week in Durban. The common consensus amongst state officials, employers and the National Development and Management Fund (NDMF) was that black African workers needed to increase productivity before they could be granted higher wages. == Strikes (January–March 1973) ==

January Coronation Tile and Brick, a brickworks company, was the first to be affected by the strikes. At 3am on 9 January 1973, black African migrant workers at the Number One plant were woken up by a group of colleagues and told to meet at a local sports field instead of going to work. Continuing for two days, it was reported that strikers reluctantly returned to work after Goodwill Zwelethini, the Zulu king, delivered a speech urging them to do so and promising to negotiate on their behalf. By the end of January, the number of companies affected by the strikes totalled 29. Out of these, the Frame Group, which owned multiple textile factories across Durban, experienced the largest strikes. This was rejected by workers. Black African municipal workers returned to work on 8 February. March Although sporadic strikes by black African workers occurred during March, the strike wave reportedly died down after the end of February. The initial strikes of 1973 were fairly small. Despite this, they had a ripple effect and were described by the Institute of Education (IIE) as a "series of spontaneous actions by workers, which spread by imitation." Most of the strikes were of short duration, with less than half of them continuing for more than two days. By the end of March, approximately 60 000 black African workers had taken part in the strikes, affecting more than 146 firms. == Responses and reactions ==

Response from employers There were mixed responses from employers. Response from police The police were present throughout the duration of the strikes. However, they rarely intervened and were reportedly told to use only minimum force when required. For the most part, strikers were described as "generally good-natured" and non-violent. Despite it being illegal for black Africans to strike under the 1973 Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, only 353 arrests were made by the end of 1973. It is noted amongst scholars that if police had intervened, matters would have escalated and become dangerous. Employers and members of parliament insisted that "agitators" were responsible for causing the strikes. Marais Viljoen, the Minister of Labour, blamed the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), the Black Workers' Project (BWP) and the Trade Union Council of South Africa for the labour disputes and made reference to how agitators were planning on taking down the State. Despite this, police claimed there to be "no evidence of an organisation behind the strikes." Public and media response The 1973 Durban strikes sparked widespread media attention. A number of local and state media reports, including those released by Rapport and SABC, were sympathetic towards black African workers and held employers responsible for low wage levels. On 30 January 1973, the Johannesburg Star published an article which stated, "If labour peace is to be restored...employers will have to take the initiative and raise pay at least to a survival level, and R5 a week is not that." Philip Frame, the owner of the Frame Group, received considerable media backlash during the time of the strikes, as did the Minister of Labour who was criticised by the press for blaming agitators for the cause of the strikes. == Legacy and aftermath ==

Immediate aftermath In 1973, Minister of Labour, Marais Viljoen, amended the Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, 1953 to the Bantu Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act. Recognition of black trade unions, on the other hand, remained "out of the question." Five black unions, with approximately 11 000 members, were reported in 1975. On 1 May 1979, amendments were made to the Labour Relations Act, otherwise known as the Wiehahn Commission. The Wiehahn Commission made it possible for black trade unions to receive limited State recognition. The 1973 Durban strikes are widely cited by academics as a turning point in South Africa's industrial relations system as it gave rise to the black trade union movement and was a major step forward in the struggle to build a mass democratic opposition to apartheid which played a central role in the struggle for the democratisation of society. ==References==