Railway several occasions.
Staff Association, the company 'union Compiled by Chris Morris 3 November, 1986: A mass meetin hostel which houses fourt in the canteens deductions for food continue.
union's head office.
ing over 20,000 workers.
of in first thing on Monday'.
over 55 depots and Smuts airport 30,000-strong Posta.
port. October 1986: Conference of the South African Harbour Workers (SARHWU) in Port Elizabeth is atter Jed by 180 delegates. The union was first establist ad in 1936, but has been crushed by apartheid repression on The conference launches an organising drive to double the membership by campaigning for mass resignations from the Black of railway workers at the Kaserne Compound, : single sex this migrant workforce, presents demands to the South Afncan Railway Services (SATS) to improve their conditons. They want a light switch in every room, no: water for washing, visitors' accomodation for their families, and the use of normal quality mielle nivan (maize 3 Deçember, 1986: Kaserne workers close the kitchen and start cooking for themselves, but pay 15 January, 1987: The security police raid the Ntai Sello, SARHWU'S general secretary and other officials are arrested. Thousands of members' resignation letters from the company union are stolen by security forces. February 1987:The food boycott spreads, involy11 March, 1987: Lorry driver Andrew Vendzanda is sacked for an 'offence' committed six months earlier. He states what had happened in October after he had delivered a container: 'When I arrived back at the depot (City Deep), I found that the cashier's office was closed ... I paid the R40 (£13)
13 March, 1987: His sacking sparks a massive strike wave. Within two weeks, it grows to include 20,000 workers. The Jan ed by the The Telecommunication Workers Association (POTWA) pledges full sup-