A case study: U.S. Labour relations with the Trade Union Council of South Africa 1960-1973

• Main Author: Toren, Tolga
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: international labour; labour imperialism; South African Trade Union Council (SATUC); African American Labour Center (AALC); overseas labour programs; AFL-CIO; SACTU; FOFATUSA; Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA)
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10539/8326

Abstract: A CASE STUDY: U.S. LABOUR RELATIONS WITH THE TRADE UNION COUNCIL OF SOUTH AFRICA 1960-1973 The aim of this study is to examine US policies towards the South African labour movement through the American Federation of Labour - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and US official institutions, such as the State Department and the Labour Department of the United States, US universities etc. with particular focus on the period between the 1960s and mid-1970s. The study is shaped as a case study. In the study, the labour relations between the US and South Africa in the beginning of the 1960s and the middle of 1970s are examined by specifically focusing on TUCSA. The study is composed to six chapters. Following the first two chapters devoted for introduction and literature review, the developments of the post-Second World War era, such as the internationalization process of capital accumulation around the world, the cold war and the formation process of new international organizations are dealt with. The re-structuring process of the international labour movement under the cold war conditions and the development of overseas labour policies of the ICFTU and the AFL-CIO are also handled in this chapter. In the fourth chapter, the capitalist development process of South Africa in the post Second World War Era is discussed. The capital accumulation process under the apartheid and the developments within the labour movement are the main issues dealt with in this chapter. In the fifth chapter, US investments in South Africa between the beginning of the sixties and the mid seventies and the effects of these investments in the capital accumulation process of South Africa are evaluated. In the last chapter, the main focal point of the study, US labour relations with South Africa between the 1960s and the middle of the 1970s is focused on with particular reference to the relations between TUCSA and the US labour institutions including the AFL-CIO and other official organizations of the US. In the study, a historical framework is developed by focusing on developments in international scale and South African scale. In the third, fourth and fifth chapters, extensive literature on international labour, capitalist development of South Africa, labour history of South Africa and US investments in South Africa is given to elaborate the issue. The sixth chapter, which is the main chapter of the study, is relied principally upon archive materials of TUCSA.