SACTWU: South Africa’s Largest Clothing and Textile Union

The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) stands as the largest union in South Africa‘s clothing, textile, footwear, and leather sectors, representing over 100,000 members. With a significant influence, SACTWU negotiates wages and conditions for the majority of workers in these industries across South Africa. Its collective bargaining agreements impact more than 150,000 workers.

Affiliated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), SACTWU is the sixth largest affiliate within the organization. The union was established on September 16, 1989, through the merger of two key unions: the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union of South Africa and the Garment and Allied Workers’ Union of South Africa. This merger unified the workforce under a single banner, strengthening its bargaining power and advocacy efforts within the sector.

Top 13 Textile Manufacturers in South Africa

SACTWU organizes workers in the clothing, textile, leather, footwear, distribution and allied industries. It is the 10th largest affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and is an affiliate of Industriall (the global manufacturing union federation). It is also the largest manufacturing trade union in Cape Town, Botshabelo, Mogwase, QwaQwa, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Isithebe and many other towns.

The organization has 18 offices across the country in Salt River, Atlantis, Paarl, Oudtshoorn, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, Tongaat, Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Pinetown, Isithebe, Port Shepstone, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Botshabelo, and QwaQwa.

SACTWU: Key services

• Collective Bargaining – providing wage coverage for over 100,000 workers.
• Job security – negotiating alternatives to closures, retrenchments and liquidations, and lobbying for jobs with government.
• Member benefits – providing R6million in funeral and retirement benefits to members and dependents, in 3800 pay-outs a year.
• Promoting higher education – The organization is also sponsoring ±700 students at universities, institutes of technology and colleges, and contributing about R5 million in bursaries every year.
• Member complaints – The organization is also assisting 99,000 members through a network of 1,682 workplace shop stewards at 1,493 organized workplaces.
• Health education – running a unique HIV/AIDS industry service reaching 50 000 workers annually with a focused awareness message, train 1000 shop stewards every year and deliver a free voluntary counselling and testing programed for members that have seen more than 178 000 workers counselled to date, since inception of this program in 2002.
• Health services – the organization is co-managing 6 clinics in the Cape in residential and industrial areas, covering 100 000 members and dependents, plus a clinic in Johannesburg and Durban each.
• Building basic education – providing literacy and numeracy programmes at 200 primary schools nation-wide through the Edupeg program, reaching over 260 000 learners over the last three years alone
• Developing shop floor leadership –training more than 1500 shop stewards annually in labour law, industry agreements, representation skills and workplace problem solving.
• Job advocacy – through initiating the Proudly South African campaign during the 1998 Job Summit negotiation, and launching the Cape Town Fashion Festival.
• Promoting vocational and workplace training – through co-managing the Fibre Processing & Manufacturing (FPMA) and Wholesale & Retail (W&R) Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA’s).
• Disseminating information and communication technology skills – through partnerships with institutes of technology that have seen worker leaders graduate in our Computer School.
• Helping high school students – through a unique Matric Winter School program that has assisted 4 470 students to date. (From 2000 onwards, when it was first initiated).
• Creating employment – through 100% ownership of two factories in the industry that employs a total of 205 workers, through investments in companies that employs in excess of 30 000 workers inside and outside the industry, through contributing to the labour Job Creation Trust, as well as through Policy measures that protect tens of thousands of jobs of the union’s membership.

SACTWU membership distribution

Salt River, Woodstock, Cape Town, Epping, Maitland, Diep River, Wynberg, Observatory, Bellville, Parow, Elsies River, Brackenfell, Atlantis, Darling, Mamre, Paarl, Worcester, George, Oudtshoorn. Port Elizabeth, East London, King Williams Town, Gcuwa, Jefferys Bay, Despatch, Uitenhage Durban, Phoenix, Mobeni, Pinetown, Tongaat, Mooi River, Estcourt, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Port Shepstone, Isithebe, Pietermaritzburg. Johannesburg Central, Jeppe, Doornfontein, Pretoria, Mogwase, Bronkhorstspruit, Babelegi, Botshabelo, Kimberley, Kroonstad, Phuthaditjhaba.