| | The Confederation of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was launched in November 1985 after five years of negotiation within the independent black union movement. The new confederation brings together 33 unions with a paid-up membership of 450,000, and provides a major focus for black organisation at the workplace and against the apartheid state. Its formation also offers an opportunity to explore the current conditions in which the independent union movement must organise. The South African Labour Bulletin has recently published a number of important contributions which both analyse the South African labour relations system and provide an insight into the formation of COSATU. |
