1. 2010
WORKERS’ LIVED
EXPERIENCES OF UNION
STRUCTURES
Clothing workers from Valhalla Park and Cape Town's clothing industry
Thesis submitted in partial requirement of completion of a Bachelor of Social Science
(Honours) Degree in Environmental and Geographical Sciences
Evan Blake
BLKEVA001
Supervisor: Shari Daya
University of Cape Town
18 October 2010

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PLAGIARISM DECLARATION
1. I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another‟s work and pretend that it is one‟s
own.
2. I have used the Harvard referencing system for citation and referencing. Each contribution to, and
quotation in, this assignment from the work(s) of other people has been attributed, and has been
cited and referenced.
3. This assignment is my own work.
4. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it
off as his or her own work.
5. I acknowledge that copying someone else‟s assignment or essay, or part of it, is wrong, and
declare that this is my own work.
SIGNATURE: STUDENT NO.: BLKEVA001

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION…………….…………………………………………..……………………4
2. LITERATURE REVIEW…….…………...……………………………………………………5
2.1 The Union Renewal and Resilience Debate...................................................................................6
2.2 Union Resilience………………………..……………….……….….………………………….………..7
2.3 The Risk of Irrelevance: A Need of Renewal and Restructuring in Unions……………...……….8
2.4 Moving Beyond Theoretical Binaries……………….…..……………………………….……….…...9
3. METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………………………...…9
4. NARRATIVES OF THE UNION’S SUPPORT…………………………………………….…11
4.1 Union Representatives' Understandings of Union Roles..............................................................11
4.2 Union Presence at Ground Level through Strike Action..............................................................13
4.3 Providence Fund and Union Benefits..........................................................................................14
5. NARRATIVES OF DISCONNECT BETWEEN WORKERS AND THE UNION................16
5.1 Retrenchments and Factory Closures: Under-Representation of Workers...................................16
5.2 Shop Stewards and Misrepresentation..........................................................................................18
6. IMAGINING THE UNION.........................................................................................................20
6.1 Community-Based Unionism........................................................................................................21
6.2 Extended Union Representation...................................................................................................22
7. CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................23
8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................................................25
9. REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................26

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ABSTRACT South African industries have undergone drastic changes, with polices of
trade liberalisation reducing the ability of local industries to compete against increased
foreign imports. The clothing industry, particularly in Cape Town, has been severely
impacted by factory closures and retrenchments. Research conducted within Valhalla Park
through qualitative interviews with current and former clothing industry workers revealed
that participants perceive the regional clothing workers union as having an important role
in the changes facing the clothing industry. This understood role is complex. Participants
acknowledged the union’s support structures including benefits and strike action support as
important for worker representation however narratives of failure by the unions to represent
workers during retrenchment and on the shop floor were present. This research will explore
how these narratives of the union’s role in the daily lives of workers feeds into broader
theoretical debates on union resilience and renewal.
1. Introduction
South Africa‟s manufacturing industries have been negatively impacted in recent years by
institutions such as GEAR, introduced by the South African government in 1996to create a new
economic vision for the country (ESSET 2003). The policies implemented have been distinctly
neoliberal in nature. They include trade liberalisation policies agreed under the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATTS) (Coetzee 2005). The clothing industry is one of numerous local
industries to have been negatively affected by these policies.The reduced protection on domestically
produced goods has resulted in reduced support of local products and loss of capacity for local
industries to remain competitive (Coetzee 2005; ESSET 2003; Van Der Westhuizen 2005). The
removal of tariffs on foreign imports has had additional impacts including an increase in foreign
imports and direct competition for locally produced goods (Coetzee 2005; ESSET 2003; Van Der
Westhuizen 2005). The increase in foreign imports and competition has had several knock-on
effects including industry-wide factory closures and retrenchments (Esset 2003). Cut, Make and
Trim (CMT)1
operations and other small home based clothing manufacturing operations have since
1
CMT enterprises are small to medium sized, informal to semi-formal cottage clothing industries. The proliferation of
these enterprises in the Western Cape and South Africa has been a result of deindustrialisation, an effect of South
Africa‟s global trade policies, resulting in the production of garments being subcontracted by customers to smaller
production units (Rogerson 2001; Van Der Westhuizen 2005). Such home based industries are not restricted to the
Western Cape, being present in other major South African urban areas including Johannesburg (Rogerson 2001). CMT
enterprises are not a unique South African phenomenon with such enterprises also located England (Evans and Smith

5. 5
become increasingly common in the Western Cape. The growth of these enterprises is
fundamentally changing the traditional structure of the clothing sector workplace from “a protected
work environment with regular wages, hours and social benefits to insecure employment,
unpredictable hours and wages without social security” (Van Der Westhuizen 2005:336). Recent
developments in the clothing sector including increased government support for local industries
may assist the clothing industry in remaining stable. Programs including the recently announced
Clothing and Textile Competiveness Program could assist factories in meeting production quotas,
upgrading and restructuring factories and increasing partnerships with government (Department of
Trade and Industry 2010).
These regional scale events impact upon factory workers at the community level, with industry
retrenchments creating poverty shocks and unstable living conditions for workers (Coetzee 2005;
Esset 2003). Valhalla Park is one place where the effects of larger scale policies and events upon
community members are visible. Many Valhalla Park residents have been negatively impacted by
shifts in the clothing industry; retrenchments, factory liquidations and unfair dismissals are common
experiences. The personal narratives of these workers provide insight into the lived experiences of
the broad changes in the industry, and formed the core methodology for this research. Through
interviews with participants regarding their experiences in the clothing industry, a number of key
themes emerged and shaped the development of the research project.The aim of this paper is to
explore (a) the ways in which clothing industry workers in Valhalla Park make sense of the role of
SACTWU during work in the textile industry and post-retrenchment, and (b) to locate these
narratives within the theoretical debates on union resilience and renewal. This aim is achieved
through the following research questions:
how did participants understand the support received from the union?
how and when did these support structures fail workers?
how did workers imagine improvements to the union?
2. Literature Review
The roles of trade and labour unions are constantly changing with globalisation having dramatic
impacts upon workplace structures and employment relations (Carr and Chen 2001). Unions have
2006) and Fiji (Buxley 2005).

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adopted different methods to deal with these changes, including opposing globalisation (Bieler
2007). Such an approach is founded on the premise that the interests of workers will be violated
with local economies being damaged by the inflation brought about by global trade reform
(Schiavone 2007). Unions may make use of tripartite arrangements between themselves, the state
and corporates to negotiate and bargain on policy concerning neoliberal trade reforms (Bieler 2007;
Faribrother 2000). Grassroots action may also be used through collaboration with civil society and
social movements to provide ground level resistance to global trade reform (Molina 2006;
Schiavone 2007).
2.1 The Union Renewal and Resilience Debate: Understanding Unions and Workplace Change
Within this broader context is a debate concerning how unions establish themselves and represent
workers in an era of globalised production and trade. The union resilience debate is concerned with
the traditional structures and organisational hierarchies of unions and how such structures create
capacity to support workers (Darlington 1997; Painter 1994; Martin et al 1993; Massey 1994;
McBride 2004). The union renewal debate argues that fundamental grassroots changes are required
within union structures for workers to feel that unions are still pertinent to their workplace struggles
(Fairbrother 2000; Stroud and Fairbrother 2008; Wills 2001). Most of the research in this area has
been conducted in England, examining how the effects on union membership following
conservative neoliberal political changes led to the power of labour shifting from collective
organisations such as unions, towards employers (Fairbrother 2000). The debate however remains
relevant in present South African contexts where neoliberal economic policies and their resultant
global trade restructuring have shifted the power away from unions through a process that Payne
(2001:389) describes as
both a concerted and organized effort by international capital and multinational enterprises
to install new working practices, but also contradictory moves towards an increasingly
„disorganized‟ capitalism, in which it is increasingly difficult to achieve common standards
on issues such as employment rights, health and safety, and education and training.
The union renewal and resilience debate is connected with other discussions as to the approach
unions should adopt. One approach is whether unions should remain as bureaucratic forms of
collective organisation concerned with more regional service based issues such as bargaining on
political and policy matters with focus on industry wide wage negotiations (Bacon and Blyton

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2004; Bieler 2007; Fairbrother 2000). A second approach is whether unions should shift towards a
bottom-up approach with a focus on how local workplaces are structured and the manner in which
power relations play out at local levels (Fairbrother 2000; Wills 2001). This is described by
Fairbrother (2000:14) as unions playing a “critical part in the unfolding pattern of restructuring
between labour and capital”.
2.2 Union Resilience
Union resilience is visible through traditional areas of union activity and strongly maintained
membership, or „heartland‟ areas. These „heartlands‟ do not suggest that union resilience is
occurring uniformly throughout regions, but rather that at a time when union membership may be
dwindling, concentrated areas of union activity are present that demonstrate where and how union
structures can be felt by and benefit workers (Martin et al 1993; Massey 1994; Painter 1994).
Although these heartland areas do indeed reveal instances of union resilience, unions should not
afford to remain complacent in these areas. For unions to recuperate lost membership beyond
„heartlands‟ and to promote resilience further, a change in focus towards recognising the importance
of how local workplace structures are organised may be necessary (Martin et al 1993).
Structures and programmes within unions can help to promote resilience. The shop steward
structure within unions is argued to be an effective system that demonstrates how unions can
actively relate to workers, using a structure that is typically bureaucratic and hierarchical in nature
to promote workplace and union democracy at shop floor level (McBride 2004; Darlington 1997).
These bureaucratic tendencies of union structures are argued by union renewal supporters to be a
contributing factor to the loss of relevance in unions felt by workers at the shop floor level (Wills
2001). A survey by Hall et al (2000) of Australian unions indicates that such assumptions do not
take into account the ways in which trends may differ between areas. Survey data used by Hall
(2000) suggests that increases in union bureaucracy or the presence of top-down structures do not
negatively impact upon workplace democracy. Bureaucratic structures may even enhance resilience
through increased union representation for workers brought about by an increase in officials (Hall et
al 2000). Lifelong learning for workers through union programmes may also promote union
resilience; Payne (2001a, 2001b) and Stroud and Fairbrother (2008) explain that programmes that
aim to provide workers with skill training that is implemented from the top-down can help to
protect workers from unexpected changes in the workplace.

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2.3 The Risk of Irrelevance: A Need of Renewal and Restructuring in Unions
There is concern that the current bureaucratic and overly administrative nature of unions could have
repercussions for worker representation at local levels (Morris and Willman 1994). Concerns
regarding the potential for a disconnect between narrowly focused union programmes and structures
and the ground level experiences and interests of workers has led to discussion for a need for
grassroots shift and structural renewal for unions (Fairbrother 2000; Hurd 1998; Martin et al 1993;
Wills 2001). Stroud and Fairbrother (2008) discuss this renewal as an opportunity for unions to find
new ways to deal with old dilemmas, with Payne (2001a:390) describing restructuring as a potential
for unions to “adopt more socially inclusive policies, and indeed seek to use their political influence
to attempt to alter the balance of risk in their members' favour”. Traditional methods of dealing with
such issues do not necessarily view the socio-economic needs of workers holistically with the result
being union structures that tend to have narrow or shallow approaches. Narrow focuses result in
union structures and programmes such as lifelong learning becoming systems to 'service' members,
that do not necessarily support workers in their own situated work experiences (Stroud and
Fairbrother 2008). With workplace structures being shaped by changes in industries, it becomes
increasingly necessary for unions to find new ways to adapt within these changing economies. In a
case study of the high-tech manufacturing industries of Silicon Valley, Benner (2000) examines how
union structures have become small and highly localised, using decentralised forms of workplace
learning and social networks in the workplace to impart general and specific skills in workers that
can provide stability and support.
Theories such as community unionism aim to provide holistic support to union members that is
missing in current forms of unionism (Wills 2001). Alliances formed between unions and civil
society groups allow for workers who are marginalised, such as those engaged in informal
employment, in minorities or within small workplaces that often do not receive representation, to be
reached through widespread grassroots mobilisation and civil society involvement (Gallin 2001;
Wills 2001). A grass-roots community focus allows for unions to build support through mobilisation
for addressing socio-economic and political issues at broader levels that extend beyond the
community (Wills 2001). Union structures have historically been patriarchal despite the growth in
women-labour based industries. Indeed, the interests of women workers have often been neglected
in unions and as a result, union membership among women has remained low (Kirton and Healy
1999). Union renewal and the resultant restructuring can allow for increased women representation
within the union, contributing to creating an 'organising culture' and increased union activism

9. 9
(Kirton and Healy 1999). The increased proliferation of online communications has led to the
internet becoming an invaluable tool for unions to create linkages between the global, regional and
local levels, allowing unions to proliferate especially at grassroots levels (Hodkinson 2001;
Diamond and Freeman 2002).
2.4 Moving Beyond Theoretical Binaries
Research on resilience and renewal in unions should be studied in the context of the factors and
circumstances that shape specific case studies. Fairbrother (2000) explains that union resilience and
renewal can be placed on a continuum with unions actively working towards a state of restructuring
to better serve workers. Top-down and bottom-up perspectives or a combination of both
perspectives could be used as potential strategies by unions to bargain and negotiate changes at the
scales of the workplace level, the state and the global, with a single approach held by unions being
neither right nor wrong (Heery 2002). Martin et al‟s (1993) discussion highlights how case studies
of unions and workplaces can cross the two debates; while traditional „heartland‟ areas of England
do demonstrate union resilience with active membership, there is undoubtedly a need for unions to
be proactive in appealing to new members have not been reached before. McBride‟s (2004) case
studies similarly reveal this crossing of binaries; the bureaucratic shop steward structures in his
study generate strong resilience for the union. The committed and proactive nature of the stewards
and the union bureaucracy have however generated strong forms of workplace democracy and shop
floor level participation in the union (McBride 2004). This workplace democracy is described by
McBride (2004) as important in promoting forms of grassroots unionism that are typically regarded
as union renewal.
3. Methodology
This research engages with the politics of knowledge production as much as with the politics of
union involvement, taking particular interest in the narratives of research participants and valuing
such narratives as central to shaping the research process and producing academic knowledge. This
research aims for the co-construction of knowledge between researcher and research participants,
using workers' everyday experiences to help create knowledge. Such knowledge not only
contributes to academic discourse but can also assist people in understanding their own experiences.
The work of Rose (1997), Ross (2010), Oldfield (2007) and Nagar (2002, 2006), on research values

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and the politics of knowledge production, has been particularly valuable in helping me develop this
approach.
Using an epistemology that values the lived experiences of participants, I began to conduct
fieldwork without a fixed framework. My aim was to refrain from imposing my own narratives or
ideas upon the research, allowing the narrative threads from the experiences of participants to
determine what issues would become research. Conversations held with Valhalla Park residents in
previous research helped to shape the initial research concept. Discussions with people who had
worked in the clothing industry helped to define how retrenchments in the clothing industry in the
Western Cape have had significant impacts upon the daily lives of people in Valhalla Park.
Over the course of a month I conducted approximately thirty interviews in Valhalla Park.
Participants were mostly women who had been retrenched from the clothing industry and were
unemployed, working as casual labour, operating small informal home-based businesses or working
at CMT enterprises. Initial access to the community was through the assistance of a community
leader and a research assistant with years of experience in clothing industry shop floor and union
politics. Their assistance was essential in helping me become known in the community. The
partnership with my field assistant, Francis, in particular helped a great deal in allowing me to feel
comfortable within the community. Francis regularly introduced me to her friends and family as
well as to research participants, explaining the objectives of my research and providing regular
advice and guidance on topics that came up during interviews. Working daily with Francis helped to
set a foundation for my epistemology, her continued support contributed greatly to the research.
These events included the daily bus trip into the community and talking to Valhalla Park residents
on the ride, discussions with curious research participants about my family and my home and
watching and discussing 7de Laan, a local television soap drama. These shared experiences with
residents all contributed to creating bonds and trust. As fieldwork progressed, community members
became increasingly open and approachable. Residents began to approach me and my assistant on
the streets asking to be interviewed and have their experiences in the clothing industry recorded.
Alongside using lists of contacts built from my assistant and initial participants, requests from
participants to be involved in the research became an important method in locating people for
interviews.
The narrative epistemology of this project allowed certain threads to emerge from people‟s
narratives around the clothing industry; what experiences were commonly viewed as important to
shaping their lives. The interviews were unstructured with spontaneous questions being asked to

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generate initial conversation or to further explore topics of interest raised by participants during the
interview. This method of interviewing participants allowed people to talk openly about various
experiences and stories. Interviews with participants revealed a common narrative thread, namely
the role of the union in the lives of workers during employment and after retrenchment. Various
themes emerged from these narratives including the role of shop stewards in the lives of workers,
the unions' role in the process of retrenchment, union led strikes, and the benefits provided by the
union during and after employment, and during employment within CMTs. All these issues were the
avenues through which participants understood and expressed the role of the union in their lives.
These various issues that emerged in the narratives and union resilience and renewal literature
shaped the aim and the research questions used for this research. The research questions that will be
addressed in the following sections include
how did participants understand the support received from the union?
how and when did these support structures fail workers?
how did workers imagine improvements to the union?
4. Narratives of the Union's Support: Structures and Benefits That Assist Workers
Research participants discussed the various ways in which the union was present in their lives. This
presence was evident to participants through the roles that were expected of the union, including
shop floor representation through shop stewards, benefits from the union that assist workers and
worker solidarity that the union can provide through strike action.
4.1 Union Representatives' Understandings of Union Roles
There has been a noticeable difference in how this role was understood between participants who
had only worked on the shop floor and those who had also worked as shop stewards. Shop stewards
interviewed, such as Aunty Ruby (interview, Ruby, retired shop steward, Ruby's home in Valhalla
Park, 9 July 2010), described what they thought the role of the union was through their own
experiences representing workers.
This man was an ironer. There was a manager, 'Mr Bigstuff'. The worker slapped him. I
represented him as a steward. They asked, why did you smack him? I told him, that smack

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was from everyone, that manager makes life hard for everyone. The man wasn't fired, just
given a warning and told next time to keep his hands in his pockets... I fight for workers,
make it worth the workers while to work overtime. Not double, but triple pay! I go to the
canteen and tell the workers “you have to work overtime”, “ag but it‟s a holiday”, “yes, but
you'll get triple pay!” The next day, everyone worked till 3pm.The workers came to me, said
it‟s the first time a shop steward has asked the management to put something on the table.
Aunty Ruby's experience of what the role of the union is expected to be is based on her time served
as a shop steward. Assisting workers in dismissal hearings, defending worker rights and being
proactive in helping workers receive better pay from factory management all require an intimate
knowledge of the union‟s structures and roles. The role of the union for Ruby is found within the
shop steward structure and the way in which the union interfaces with workers at the shop floor
level. Another former shop steward, my assistant Francis (interview, Francis, retrenched machinist
and former shop steward, Martha's home in Valhalla Park, 5 August 2010), discussed the union in
terms of the structures it has in place to support workers;
If the case was that you were unfairly dismissed, union will see, always rule that the worker
is right…. If there is any closure, there must be short time. First, must be a rotating thing, if
you paid three days, I get paid three days, Marie gets paid three days.... Stewards and
officials must be able to look, have information disclosure and sit and look through the
company books... Still companies phoning the union asking for thirty machinists. Workers
can go to the union and check for work; machinists, driver, whatever. Union then phones
those companies and say if they got a person with that and that... For elderly people who
don‟t want to go back to work; to go to the day hospital is such trouble but they give so
much in the fund, so they can make use of the panel doctors.
From years of service as a shop steward in the union, Francis had gained a considerable amount of
knowledge on how the union operated, being well aware of what structures were in place within the
union to support workers including the shop steward structures and benefits available to workers
after retrenchment. Francis' knowledge of union structures formed her understanding of the union
and the support in place for workers through such structures. These narratives from participants
who had been involved with the union lend support to arguments concerning resilience through
union structures made by academics, including McBride's (2004:138) suggestion that the
...shop steward organisation is durable and effective in terms of their role at the workplace.

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There is evidence to suggest that the shop stewards ... are fully accountable to their
membership in terms of information reported back to the workforce after negotiations with
management.
4.2 Union Presence at Ground Level through Strike Action
Other participants who were workers but not shop stewards viewed the role of the union not
through its organisational structures but through the ways that the union was experienced more
tangibly at the shop floor and at home. An example of this tangible union presence is through union
led strike action. Two former clothing industry workers, Poppy (interview, Poppy, former machinist,
Poppy's home in Valhalla Park, 15 July 2010) and Jessica (interview, Jessica, retired machinist,
verandah of Jessica's home and tuckshop, 29 July 2010), told me of their experiences during strike
action;
At Cape Underwear, mad house there. We stand on the streets, singing and striking. In the
canteen there were strikes. All part of the struggle for what? For a better working wage! Toyi
toyi! Tracksuits, jeans, shorts on, get ready! We always look after each other. This was my
enjoyment when I worked. Ons a lekker kaap toe! Wil julle saam gaan? echoes down the
corridors, everybody starts singing, all the managers on line, waiting, watching.
1998, we had the biggest strike. We were the main factory, we striked for about a month. We
were on strike for R25, it was a lot of effort for such a small amount but we stood together.
We were happy with the strike, we were comrades together, a totally united front. We also
sacrificed a lot, end of the day it was paid out and we were back to being a happy family.
Other participants shared similar experiences during strike action. They recollected such memories
fondly and explained in detail the various actions taken by workers and the union in rallying
together to ensure fair wages. Strike action was expressed as a way in which workers felt the union
had been proactive in representing their interests and having created solidarity and support at the
factory floor level.

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4.3 Providence Fund and Union Benefits
Strike action along with shop stewards are some of the ways that the support of the union was felt
by workers. Benefits received from union membership and the providence fund managed by the
union were also described by participants as important sources of union support. The providence
fund in particular was brought up in many conversations concerning how participants managed to
support their families post retrenchment. The providence fund was managed by SACTWU and
administered by the Industrial Council. Shop steward contacts explained that the union had to be
proactive in ensuring companies pay in a portion of the workers‟ salaries towards the
Unemployment and Injury Fund (UIF) as well as the providence fund towards which the union also
contributed. This providence fund could then be accessed by a worker after retrenchment as a lump
sum payment. Research participants described in various ways how the providence fund assisted
post retrenchment, some participants used the providence fund for start up capital to set up a small
informal home based business such as a tuck shop while others used the amount to sustain a
livelihood until further employment could be found. Some of those interviewed such as Karlien
(interview, Karlien, retrenched machinist, Karlien's home in Valhalla Park, 14 July 2010) discussed
how the providence fund did not always provide enough money to support a family;
I‟m not working. I received my providence fund, took the full package but it‟s not enough to
live off. There‟s no pension, only disability. I receive papers at SASSA [the South African
state social service association], fill in forms, only now the money isn‟t enough
Although the amount in the providence was viewed by some as not being an adequate amount, what
was given was viewed as helpful by participants. Macey (interview, Macey, former machinist,
Macey's home in Valhalla Park, 14 July 2010) explained how she was strategic with claiming her
providence fund, employing a strategy to maximise the amount she could claim;
I claimed my providence fund last April, if you take it out at one time you get like a thirty
percent bonus… but I carried on working. The boss gives some and the union gives some. It
gets interest. I was clever; I still got more while working while taking the money out.
The union provided benefits for workers that extend beyond the management of the providence
fund. Aunty Ruby (interview, Ruby, retired shop steward, Ruby's home in Valhalla Park, 9 July
2010) detailed the various ways that the union benefited her and other workers;

15. 15
If a family member dies, you can take your certificate and get money from the union
towards a funeral... There are benefits for the family; the sick fund. Family members up to
eighteen, used to be twenty-one, can be treated for free... Good things of the union, my
foster son is also on my book, he can be treated... You can take a form by the union, for the
first year at university or college. First year is paid out straight, if she studies further then
that also gets paid. You get a bursary from SANCTWU. Valhalla Park is under privileged yet
still doctors and lawyers can come out of this place. Sergeants in the police force. From the
underprivileged we take our children further.
The sick fund was a benefit commonly discussed by other participants. Karlien (interview, Karlien,
retrenched machinist, Karlien's home in Valhalla Park, 14 July 2010) described her access to union
administered healthcare after her retrenchment; “I still make use of the sick benefits from the union,
I have a letter saying I can still use the sick benefits.” The medical benefits provided by the union
extended beyond retirement and retrenchment and allowed people who were marginalised to access
adequate health care in instances where state provided healthcare was difficult to access. In contrast,
the bursaries for tertiary education offered by SACTWU were not mentioned often by participants.
SACTWU (2010a) state that all “SACTWU members, their husbands or wives, their children and
legally adopted children, as well as staff members can apply for a bursary”. Despite the availability
of this benefit to all members, it was not a benefit that forms part of the union role for many
participants. The reason for this could be that participants may have been retrenched or left the
industry before their children finished high school. Aunty Ruby and another community member
known to have received a bursary for her child accessed this union benefit sometime prior to their
retirement from the industry. For others workers who had joined the industry in recent years,
retrenchments, factory closures, liquidations and difficult working conditions that led to decisions to
leave the industry may have prevented access to bursary benefits.
From the experiences and stories told it is clear that the union does have a presence in people's lives
in various ways. For the average worker it is most apparent in immediate benefits and the
providence fund that assists post-retrenchment. For workers who were involved in the union, the
role of the union is understood and remembered through the various structures put in place to
support workers, including the shop steward structures. As the conversation with Francis revealed,
there are systems in place for the union to provide protection and assistance to workers post-
retrenchment. These structures could lend credence to an argument that the union may remain
resilient if benefits do actively support members. The reality of these union structures and benefits
is that not everyone may be able to access the benefits and support offered. The following section

16. 16
will discuss how people have felt that the union structures have not necessarily benefited all
workers equally. Participants narrating experiences of having fallen in between the gaps of the
union support structures are quite common, displaying potential need for forms of restructuring.
5. Narratives of Disconnect Between Workers and the Union
Alongside participants explaining what they experienced the role of the union to be, many also
recounted experiences of how the union has failed to work or represent them. The experiences of
union misrepresentation or lack of representation was common in the narratives, with experiences
including unions failing to support workers during factory closures and negative experiences with
shop stewards.
5.1 Retrenchments and Factory Closures: Under-Representation of Workers
Factory closures, liquidations and retrenchments were a particularly sensitive topic for participants
with several participants being unwilling to discuss their experiences of factory closure in detail, the
experience clearly being traumatic and upsetting. Other participants used the interviews as an
opportunity to vent anger over the situation, discussing their outrage towards 'fly-by-night factory'
owners they had worked for and the union they felt had failed to stop such individuals and
reimbursing lost wages and payment. A prominent community leader in Valhalla Park, Martha
(interview, Martha, community leader and former shop steward, Martha's home in Valhalla Park, 14
July 2010), told of her own family's experience with factory closures and the union;
My daughter went to work for a smaller factory, union supported, but the factory closed.
They find out the boss didn‟t pay in the UIF money although the money was deducting…
there were wage issues, the father [factory owner] got killed and it got bad to worse. The son
took over and although production is flowing he is crying, saying people don‟t pay him for
his work, says seams aren‟t right, work is being sent back, he lied! He was in debt and he
closed down… We took all the girls and went to the union; person [union official] at the
union knew them [the factory owner and the family], they were high at church, made a lot of
empty promises about getting the money back. To this day, not a cent. That person said she
will work on their nerves; see that all the girls get their money. To this day, nothing.

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Factory closures were particularly hard on workers as not only was a source of employment and
income lost but wages, overtime or holiday pay that was amassed while working with the business
was lost. The anger towards the union was directed at the lack of protection offered against such
factory closures Jessica (interview, Jessica, retrenched machinist, verandah of Jessica's home and
tuckshop, 29 July 2010) discussed experiences her and fellow colleagues have had with the union
failing to assist retrenched workers;
Sometimes the union, say a small factory closes, union says they‟ll investigate. It‟ll take
years! When there‟s closures and liquidations workers go expecting something, money. They
get nothing or it takes too long. The union can help with some things, don‟t help with others.
While participants blamed their experiences on union representatives who lacked commitment to
help workers, it was also felt that the issue was with the union itself. The union was perceived as
lacking the fundamental capacity needed to monitor companies that were closing down, liquidating
or retrenching workers. My research assistant, Francis (interview, Francis, retrenched machinist and
former shop steward, Martha's home in Valhalla Park, 5 August 2010), commented on participants'
reactions towards the union's perceived failure to provide support following a factory closure;
If a company is liquidating, it‟s hard for the union. Liquidators sell everything, there's no
money for the workers. The union struggles. Then the guy reopens under a new factory
under the wife‟s name. That‟s why the workers get angry, they don‟t understand this.
Despite the possibility of workers not understanding the difficulties unions face in trying to support
workers, the narratives of workers on their feelings and experiences of the absence of the union
remains important. Through their study of workplace learning, Stroud and Fairbrother (2008:232)
discuss similar disparities between workers and the union explaining that
[The] approach [taken] by trade unions has largely been one of servicing members, rather
than developing an active engagement with workplace learning practices in an active and
involved way... we argue that union capacity is shaped in relation to the structural
circumstances in which unions operate.
Workers in Stroud and Fairbrother's (2008) study experienced a disparity through union lifelong
learning programmes whereas participants in Valhalla Park felt a clear disparity between the

18. 18
structures the union had established to support and protect workers from factory closure and
retrenchments, and how these structures fail to be relatable to workers on the shop floor. The
disparities present between workers and unions lead Stroud and Fairbrother (2008:233) to argue
that;
Union leaderships are thus not in a position to articulate the interests of members who
clearly worry about the future, but who struggle to define their learning needs precisely and
in focused ways. The result is that the steel union leaderships tend to view workplace
learning as an additional and narrowly defined objective rather than as core to members‟
interests and concerns
SACTWU may not view the protection of workers from retrenchment and factory closure in narrow
terms and as an objective that needs to be addressed. The experiences of participants reveal that
support structures put in place by union leaders are not addressing how workers feel they need to be
represented and supported during factory closure and retrenchment.
5.2 Shop Stewards and Misrepresentation
Along with factory closures, participants also described the various ways in which they felt shop
stewards failed to serve their interests. The role of the shop steward is to act as the intermediary
between workers and the union, becoming the key means in which workers interface with the union
on a daily level and ensuring workers are represented and supported at the ground level. Some
participants suggested that this role is not being met, with participants having described a distinct
lack of faith in their shop stewards. General conversations between participants revealed the degree
of mistrust people have towards stewards. A discussion between Francis and Martha (general
conversation, Francis and Martha, Martha's home, 22 July 2010) revealed details concerning shop
floor politics with shop stewards. Martha discussed with Francis how some stewards could become
“too friendly” with factory owners and management. She continued to discuss incidents of stewards
who are kept in management's 'good books' to get larger personal loans or better privileges;
“workers normally get say a R1000 loan with conditions, friendly shop stewards can get up to
R5000. No conditions. Workers lose confidence in their stewards.” This lack of faith in stewards
was observed first hand during field work. A couple of instances included people currently
employed in clothing factories approaching Francis for assistance with warnings issued by factory
management, asking for advice how to approach management and the union to rectify the situation.

19. 19
Francis explained that people feel that they cannot trust the shop stewards in their factories to give
them proper advice, workers may prefer to approach people within their community for assistance
even though these individuals are no longer involved in the union and the clothing industry.
Such lack of faith has serious implications for work place democracy. In his case studies of shop
steward structures in Tyneside, McBride (2004:139) describes the shop steward structure as a
source of “collective negotiation and decision making” and thus become the very essence of
workplace democracy in unions, with this democracy seen in “the two way interaction between the
representatives and their members with many of the workers articulating their grievances and
attempting to influence the stewards on issues they perceived were a sense of injustice”. A lack of
trust in shop stewards is a lack of trust in the very democratic structures of the union. The lack of
trust in shop steward structure by participants may not necessarily be due to the personal mistrust in
their shop stewards but due to personal dilemmas that workers feel shop stewards cannot support.
Conversations between participants revealed examples of such personal dilemmas including
incidents of female workers abused at home and absent from work as a result. Participants
discussed how many of these women would rather be dismissed or receive a warning than approach
a steward or upper management for assistance for fear of embarrassment. Francis and her friend,
Jessica (interview, Jessica, retrenched machinist, verandah of Jessica's home and tuckshop, 29 July
2010) discussed such a situation;
Francis: Get a lot of abused women, how the heck can I go to work when both my eyes
blue?
Jessica: Ja, can‟t go work there then, lots of gossip in the factories, become the center of
attention.
Francis: Klarina‟s sister‟s child had an abusive husband, examiner at Cape Underwear,
never knew that she was abused, wore glasses to hide it. In companies things spread like
fire. She was shot by her husband… So many workers with problems, but people don‟t feel
freely to speak, so much gossip, its how people are.
This may not be a failure on behalf of the shop steward structure it reveals potential gaps in the
union's support structure. With the shop steward structure viewed as unreliable and untrustworthy in
its current form by workers there are serious implications for the legitimacy of union democracy.
For other participants, the union has failed to provide access to the post-retirement and
retrenchment support structures that are in place. Gina (interview, Gina, retrenched factory clerk,

20. 20
Gina's home in Valhalla Park, 19 July 2010), a currently unemployed former clothing industry
worker, described her difficulties since she left the industry;
I‟m qualified, give me a fabric shop and I‟ll run it A to Z… If they see your CVs, see your
age… say goodbye to that job... I worked for twenty two years, who cares for me now? But
you? Ja, no work for clerks... Even when you sick, when I was still working, we had a book.
Could go see a doctor, now that I‟m old I got no money. I sit at home and get sick, don‟t
have money for a private doctor, I have to go see a day clinic. If I go to the doctor at the day
clinic and make an appointment, its six months time! I got nothing now. You know, I still got
my sick fund fund book; I‟m still clinging to my book... Went on supervisor training at the
union. In the end it means nothing
Although the union does have various structures in place to provide support for workers post-
retrenchment and retirement, as explored in the previous section with narratives of what union
structures are in place to benefit workers, there is an issue of who can access these benefits and
structures. Despite the presence of union support structures that can assist former workers in finding
new jobs or providing continued health care services, not all workers have access to these services
or know that such services exist. During the conversation with Gina it became clear she was not
aware of any support structures from the union that she could still access, she expressed that such
support would assist greatly. These narratives reveal that union structures are not reaching
participants who are in dire need of support. Such a lack of awareness of union support structures
and lack of connection with the union could be due to the union structures being top-down in nature
which tend to be ineffective at locating marginalised and vulnerable groups (Wills 2001).
6. Imagining the Union
While participants narrated how they thought the union failed to represent their interests, further
conversations revealed the ways in which they felt the union could better serve their interests. These
narratives are important in further understanding how the resilience and renewal debates apply to
participants' understandings of SACTWU's role in their lives. Narratives regarding participants'
imaginings of an improved union can provide the necessary grassroots view on what the
organisational structure of the union should become and what workers themselves describe as
necessary to be supported.

21. 21
6.1 Community-Based Unionism
On several occasions while moving through the community during fieldwork or after conversations
with participants, people approached my field assistant to ask for assistance on work or union
related matters. Discussions between Francis and other shop stewards revealed that this was
common for them too. General discussions with Francis during the course of fieldwork concerning
why people would approach her highlighted how the 'informal' shop steward assistance she
provides at a community level has become an important source of support for factory workers.
Francis continued that women workers especially feel more comfortable with approaching
someone they know within the community in instances where they feel they cannot receive
assistance from formal union structures. Such occurrences parallel what Wills (2001) describes as a
need for community based unionism, where flatter union organisation structures will create capacity
within unions for supporting communities to create partnerships that provide more holistic forms of
assistance to workers at the community level. The creation of relationships between unions and
strong community members is viewed as central to creating strong forms of community unionism.
Wills (2001:466) explains that;
Finding allies in the community is seen as a way to reach... „hard to organize‟ groups and to
service their needs in appropriate ways, using local community facilities for out-reach work
and advice sessions
These hard to organise groups often include women, minorities and groups marginalised within
society (Wills 2001). Workers that sought out the assistance of Francis and other former shop
stewards as well participants who felt misrepresented by the union would undoubtedly benefit from
such a union structure. Although forms of community unionism are being informally practised to
some degree through former shop stewards, these informal support structures are not well defined
or well spread enough to provide adequate support to workers in the community. Increased support
from SACTWU at the local level through forms of community unionism could create the capacity
to legitimise these informal support structures and provide support to otherwise marginalised
workers.
Increased grassroots union support would also assist current and former workers with counselling
and support. Gina (interview, Gina, retrenched factory clerk, Gina's home in Valhalla Park, 19 July

22. 22
2010) described an urgent need for HIV/AIDS counselling to learn how to support infected
relatives, yet since retrenchment she has become cut off from union support structures and has since
been unable to find assistance. SACTWU's (2010b) Worker Health Program website declares that
HIV/AIDS counselling and support is provided to all union members. SACTWU does not however
discuss if former union members are also covered by this support blanket. Gina's experience
suggests that such support is not offered to people who have left the industry. Community based
unionism would make locating and targeting individuals who have become marginalised through
retrenchment possible, providing assistance at local levels where people can more easily access
services and support.
6.2 Extended Union Representation
Other than describing a tangible need for a union that is more accessible at a community level,
participants also described a need for union representation in different workplaces they have
become involved in. For many of the participants, having worked in a CMT is a common
experience. Although informal to semi-informal in nature, CMTs have become an important source
of employment for retrenched and dismissed clothing industry workers. The relative flexible
working days and closer proximity to home makes CMTs an attractive option to workers, however
the smaller size of the operations and the smaller workforce has resulted in a lack of formal
recognition by unions. Martha (interview, Martha, community leader and former shop steward,
Martha's home in Valhalla Park, 14 July 2010) discussed her own experience in CMTs and the result
of the lack of formal union recognition;
I went to work for other CMTs. Was a big loss, no way they could pay you for holidays. You
know you will be short paid end of the week. Wasn‟t done the union way. When you finish
you just end off with weeks wages. Nothing else. This is how I ended off, these long years
were wasted. My wages and that‟s it, no providence fund. Some didn‟t pay me, there‟s no
where you can go to place a complaint, there‟s no union. It‟s dangerous!
Other participants who had worked in CMTs had similar experiences to that of Martha; workers
being exploited, underpaid and left with insecure employment. Sarina (interview, Sarina, former
machinist, Sarina's home and CMT business, 9 July 2010), a small CMT operator trying to
formalise her business, openly discussed how the informal nature of the CMT business makes it
difficult for owners to ensure that they have enough orders to keep workers employed in the

23. 23
operation and paid on time, she felt that union support could assist workers in such conditions,
stating “This is where unions should help. People would rather work nearby to their home, CMTs
offer this.”
CMT workers have become a workforce that is under-represented in the South African clothing
industry. Recognising the importance of changing local workforce structures is vital for unions to
remain relevant to workers (Gallin 2001; Martin et al 1993). Wills (2001:467) discusses the risk of
under-representation of industries;
when so many of workers are employed in workplaces without any form of trade union
presence, often on part-time and/or temporary contracts, with small numbers of colleagues,
this workplace-based model of trade unionism is completely inappropriate to meeting their
needs. The very structure and geography of trade unionism neglects those workers who are
not in membership and fails to give unions the leverage they need to intervene in and
beyond any workplace.
It is no different with SACTWU and Western Cape CMTs. Shifts within the Western Cape clothing
industry have resulted in CMTs becoming increasingly important. The narratives of participants
suggest that SACTWU does not have the structures in place to address the needs of CMT workers.
Restructuring the union to create a more horizontally and flatter structured organisation would place
a focus on local workplace structures such as CMTs and give greater representation for workers
involved in non-traditional workplaces within Cape Town's clothing industry.
7. Conclusion
The narratives of participants revealed a disparity between what SACTWU aims to achieve for
workers and the lived experience of workers.The stories of people have shown that there is indeed
resilience in SACTWU generated through structures and benefits that assist workers. This resilience
is promoted through shop stewards who are committed to the union and workers they represent.
They allow workers to interface with the union on the factory floor, providing strong and
unquestioning support to workers. Workers also explained how strike action became important in
creating a sense of solidarity and fraternity, not only between workers from different factories but
also between workers and the union. The providence fund managed by the union was understood as

24. 24
a visible indication of the union supporting workers' livelihoods. These union support structures and
plans have allowed workers to feel the presence of SACTWU in their daily lives, essentially
ensuring union remain relevant.
Despite these indications of resilience, participants often spoke of how they have felt that they have
been misrepresented or let down by the union. Stories of people feeling failed by the lack of union
support during factory closures and having mistrust in shop steward union representatives revealed
gaps in the union's support structures. These narratives suggest that perhaps union renewal is
required within SACTWU to make the union more approachable and present at the community
level. An argument for forms of union renewal in SACTWU from the Valhalla Park case study is
also strengthened by people's imaginings of how the union could better serve their interests.
Instances of workers seeking assistance within the community indicates a need for unions to
recognise the potential for more direct worker support at the community level rather than
exclusively through traditional union structures. The narratives of worker's experiences in CMTs
also provides insight into where workers feel the union could become more involved in workplace
structures. CMTs are rising in importance as a source of employment, changing the workplace
structure of Cape Town's clothing industry. The union has not adapted to these workplace shifts,
failing to represent CMT workers despite their need for support.
From these narrative threads I would argue that SACTWU requires some form of union renewal
and restructuring, participants have expressed a tangible disconnect between themselves and the
union, with this disconnect manifesting as feelings of misrepresentation and frustration in workers.
The way forward it would seem is for SACTWU to reconsider its role; does it remain concerned
exclusively with wage negotiations and the political aspects of the industry, retaining its current top-
down structure, or does it become a trade union that shifts focus towards its workers and the
communities in which workers live and operate. Although such a shift requires the union to make
changes in its organisational structures, it would need to be considered if such changes are the
suitable way forward in the changing economic, social and political conditions that affect the
Western Cape clothing industry.

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8. Acknowledgements
I want to thank my supervisor, Shari Daya, for going beyond the call of duty expected of a
supervisor in providing support and advice throughout the honours journey. Thank you Shari, your
help made the research process an enjoyable experience, and not a chore. Your knowledge helped to
shape the conceptual underpinnings of this research, without such advice and mentorship my thesis
would be hollow.
Special thanks must be given to Sophie Oldfield for providing guidance that proved essential to
conducting fieldwork and forming a relationship with the community of Valhalla Park. This project
would not have been possible without Sophie‟s assistance in arranging funding from the NRF;
thank you Sophie for electing me to receive funding from the „Body Politics Project‟ (gun
no.2072796) that allowed for the depth and length of research.
To the people of Valhalla Park, I cannot begin to describe the gratitude I have for the way you
welcomed me into the community. Thank you to the United Civic Front and the women of Valhalla
Park for meeting me at the bus stop, making sure I felt comfortable and ensuring I left each day
with a smile; many afternoons of watching Bold and the Beautiful and 7de Laan were enjoyed in
your company. To my participants, thank you for spending your time with me. Your stories and
narratives have formed the core of this research. Completing this research would have been
impossible without your involvement. To my research assistant and colleague, thank you for your
partnership in fieldwork. Introducing me to your contacts, to your friends and family, explaining
union structures and systems and providing interpretation are some of the forms of support offered
by my colleague that were invaluable to conducting fieldwork.
Finally, to my family; thank you for your support. Although many a province away, the love and
care of my parents always felt near. Special thanks must be given to my brother for adopting a
mentor role this year, providing guidance in a year defined by change and new beginnings.

26. 26
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