Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

The Industrial Conciliation Bill of 1923 which followed the 1922 miner's strike was the first step in a process that led to the trade union movement becoming split into two distinct sections. Firstly there were unions based mainly on white labour (but also including a minority of skilled 'coloured' and Indian workers) which, if at all, only permitted African membership of separate 'parallel' organisations. The second group of unions consisted of those initially based on African workers, later open to all, who were largely excluded from the industrial conciliation system. Both groups are represented in the materials here, which deal amongst other issues with the arguments concerning the degree to which unions should or could be 'non-political' under the apartheid system, and the extent to which members of the 'recognised' unions benefitted as a consequence of the limited access of the non-white worker to wage increases and better paid jobs. Concerns limited to particular trades and industries are also dealt with. of how the outlawing of various political parties left a greater space for other organisations to contest these issues.