The South African Iron and Steel Trades Association (SAISTA; ) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representing white metalworkers in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The union was founded in 1936, with support from the Nasionale Raad van Trustees. It initially had only 300 members, but grew steadily, becoming particularly associated with

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

s. It attempted to form a trade union federation restricted to white workers, but was unable to do so, and instead in 1944 affiliated to the

South African Trades and Labour Council The South African Trades and Labour Council (SAT&LC) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was founded in 1930, when the South African Trades Union Council merged with the Cape Federation of Labour Unions. ...

(SAT&LC). Within the SAT&LC, the union argued against representation for black workers, and in 1947 it resigned over the issue. The following year, it was a founding affiliate of the all-white Co-ordinating Council of South African Trade Unions, and then from 1957 part of the larger

South African Confederation of Labour The South African Confederation of Labour (SACOL) was a national trade union federation of white workers in South Africa. History The federation was established in 1957, as a loose body bringing together the South African Federation of Trade Unions ...

(SACOL). By 1976, it had 36,000 members, and was the largest union of white workers. Around 1980, the union renamed itself as the South African Iron, Steel and Allied Industries Union. In 1993, it was a founding affiliate of the Afrikaner Volksfront. However, by this point it was regarded as less extreme than the other SACOL affiliates. It became independent and renamed itself as the South African Workers' Union, also opening up membership to workers of all racial backgrounds. This led those members who wished to maintain an exclusively white union to defect to the Mine Workers' Union (MWU). In 2001, it merged into the MWU, which renamed itself as "Solidarity".{{cite book , last1=Visser , first1=Wessel , title=Van MWU tot Solidariteit; Geskiedenis van die Mynwerkersunie, 1902 tot 2002 , date=2002 , url=https://www.afrikanergeskiedenis.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/VAN-MWU-TOT-SOLIDARITEIT-1.pdf , isbn=978-0-620-42142-3 , access-date=5 April 2021

References

Metal trade unions Trade unions established in 1936 Trade unions disestablished in 2001 Trade unions in South Africa