Workers' Library and Museum

Last updated

The Workers' Library and Museum was a non-profit labour service organisation (LSO) active in Johannesburg, South Africa between 1987 and the early 2000s. The organisation provided a meeting and learning centre for labour activists as well as students from the nearby Alexandra and Soweto areas. In 1994, it was expanded into the Workers and Museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, with the only museum in South Africa focussed on working people other than the Slave Lodge, Cape Town.

Contents

History

The Workers' Library was founded in 1987 as an alternative to the racially segregated public library system under apartheid. [1] Under apartheid, black workers and writers were "forbidden entrance into some of the basic institutions required to practice history, such as archives and public libraries." [2] It was preceded by the Trade Union Library, founded in Cape Town in 1983: [3] both were part of a larger wave of LSOs that emerged from the 1970s. Often initiated by politicised university students and graduates, these worked with the rising unions of the 1970s and 1980s. [4] The "gathering strength of the labour movement" with its "exciting potential" for social change attracted academics who combined scholarship and "working-class perspectives." [5]

In 1994, the Workers' Library was relocated to premises in the Newtown district, adjacent to Mary Fitzgerald Square, and near the Market Theatre, MuseuMAfricA and the national offices of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA). It was renamed the Workers' Library and Museum to reflect an expanded role: the new premises were a refurbished municipal compound (hostel) for black African migrant men workers, part of which was converted to a museum, part of which hosted the library collection, and part of which provided large venues for meetings; nearby cottages for skilled white workers were included, to be used for office space. [1] The buildings housed employees of the now-defunct Jeppe Street Power Station and were a National Monument. The redesign was undertaken by the architect, anti-apartheid activist and radical Allan Robert Lipman in association with Henry Paine, for which they were awarded the South African Institute of Architects Award (SAIA) for Excellence. [6] The Newtown area, including the power station and the Square had a long history as a site of worker protests and rallies, and was "intrinsically linked" to the working-class culture of the area [7] that the Workers' Library and Museum now commemorated.

Activities

The Workers' Library hosted numerous workshops and provided meeting space for unions. This continued in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the venue was also used by the new Anti-Privatisation Forum. Relations with unions were maintained through representatives attending the Johannesburg Local of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and running tables at union congresses, and the launch of a bookshop and t-shirt printing project directed at workers [8] In the late 1990s, the Workers' Library and Museum formed a partnership with Khanya College, another Johannesburg-based LSO, which rented office space, refurbished part of the premises and provided some administrative support for venue bookings.

The Workers' Library and Museum was non-sectarian and inclusive in its approach. [9] Its activities in the 1990s included Saturday afternoon workshops "typically attended by over 35 people, overwhelmingly drawn from the shop steward layer and community activists." [10] The organisation was run by an elected committee of members, who were unpaid volunteers, including anarchists-syndicalists, COSATU members, people from the South African Communist Party (SACP), and Trotskyists . [11] Likewise, the Workers Bookshop included a wide range of materials, from union (mainly but not only COSATU and its unions) and SACP materials, to Trotskyist newspapers and publications from the anarchist-syndicalist Bikisha Media / Zabalaza Books. It the only left-wing bookshop in Gauteng province in the late 1990s and early 2000s. [8]

Unlike LSOs such as the International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG) in Cape Town, the Workers’ Library and Museum was not actively involved in research and publishing, the main exception being an oral history project in the 1990s with former residents of the municipal compound. Its Board was a mixture of trade unionists, like Petros Mashishi, president of the South African Municipal Workers Union and academics linked to the unions and the larger national liberation movement, like Sakhela Buhlungu and Luli Callinicos.

Closure

In the early 2000s, the Johannesburg Municipality withdrew its previous subsidies to the Workers' Library and Museum, which had taken the form of rebates on service charges, rent and taxes. Like other LSOs at the time, [12] it was meanwhile hit by the drying up of donor and solidarity funding after the end of apartheid, and displacement by unions' own expanding research and service departments. Although it had links to the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), partly through Mashishi and through its highlighting of black municipal workers' history at the museum, there was no formal relationship or ongoing financial support.

Faced with growing debt and unable to pay municipal levies, the Workers' Library and Museum closed in the early 2000s. This was part of a larger decline in the LSO movement, and of left spaces and infrastructure countrywide post-apartheid.

The library collection is now housed at the offices of Khanya College, which relocated to Kerk Street, while the premises are now a separate Workers' Museum, run by the municipality for tourists and schools. [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congress of South African Trade Unions</span> South African trade union federation

The Congress of South African Trade Unions is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front</span> Political party in South Africa

The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front, formerly known as the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZabFed), is a platformist–especifista anarchist political organisation in South Africa, based primarily in Johannesburg. The word zabalaza means "struggle" or "active rebellion" in isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati and isiNdebele. Initially, as ZabFed, it was a federation of pre-existing collectives, mainly in Soweto and Johannesburg. It is now a unitary organisation based on individual applications for membership, describing itself as a "federation of individuals". Historically the majority of members have been people of colour. Initially the ZACF had sections in both South Africa and Swaziland. The two sections were split in 2007, but the Swazi group faltered in 2008. Currently the ZACF also recruits in Zimbabwe. Members have experienced oppression in South Africa and Swaziland.

Anarchism in South Africa dates to the 1880s, and played a major role in the labour and socialist movements from the turn of the twentieth century through to the 1920s. The early South African anarchist movement was strongly syndicalist. The ascendance of Marxism–Leninism following the Russian Revolution, along with state repression, resulted in most of the movement going over to the Comintern line, with the remainder consigned to irrelevance. There were slight traces of anarchist or revolutionary syndicalist influence in some of the independent left-wing groups which resisted the apartheid government from the 1970s onward, but anarchism and revolutionary syndicalism as a distinct movement only began re-emerging in South Africa in the early 1990s. It remains a minority current in South African politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Municipal Workers' Union</span> Trade union in South Africa

The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) is the largest union in local government in South Africa.

The World, originally named The Bantu World, was the black daily newspaper of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is famous for publishing Sam Nzima's iconic photograph of Hector Pieterson, taken during the Soweto uprising of 16 June 1976.

Trade unions in South Africa has a history dating back to the 1880s. From the beginning unions could be viewed as a reflection of the racial disunity of the country, with the earliest unions being predominantly for white workers. Through the turbulent years of 1948–1991 trade unions played an important part in developing political and economic resistance, and eventually were one of the driving forces in realising the transition to an inclusive democratic government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federation of South African Trade Unions</span> Trade union federation in South Africa

The Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) was a trade union federation in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anarchism in Australia</span> Australian anarchism

Anarchism in Australia arrived within a few years of anarchism developing as a distinct tendency in the wake of the 1871 Paris Commune. Although a minor school of thought and politics, composed primarily of campaigners and intellectuals, Australian anarchism has formed a significant current throughout the history and literature of the colonies and nation. Anarchism's influence has been industrial and cultural, though its influence has waned from its high point in the early 20th century where anarchist techniques and ideas deeply influenced the official Australian union movement. In the mid 20th century anarchism's influence was primarily restricted to urban bohemian cultural movements. In the late 20th century and early 21st century Australian anarchism has been an element in Australia's social justice and protest movements.

The Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU) was a trade union and mass-based popular political movement in southern Africa. It was influenced by the syndicalist politics of the Industrial Workers of the World, as well as by Garveyism, Christianity, communism, and liberalism.

The SouthAfrican Mine Workers' Strike was a labour dispute involving mine workers of Witwatersrand in South Africa. It started on 12 August 1946 and lasted approximately a week. The strike was attacked by police and over the week, at least 1,248 workers were wounded and at least 9 killed.

Abasebenzi was published from 1973 to 1976 by the Wages Commission, Student's Representative Council at the University of Cape Town and aimed to create awareness by informing workers in the Western Cape of the importance of worker unity, organisation and representation in order to protect their interests, better their wages and working conditions and end worker exploitation. Information about collective bargaining, formation of liaison committees, works committees and trade unions was made available in order to empower workers in their struggle. Abasebenzi also endeavoured to assist individual workers with particular problems and articles included information about overtime, unemployment insurance and workmen's compensation. In 1976, five issues and all future issues were banned and publication was forced to cease.

Lucien van der Walt is a South African writer, professor of Sociology and labour educator. His research engages the anarchist/syndicalist tradition of Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin; trade unionism and working class history, particularly in southern Africa; and neoliberal state restructuring. He currently teaches and researches at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and previously worked at the University of the Witwatersrand. His 2007 PhD on anarchism and syndicalism in South Africa in the early 1900s won both the international prize for the best PhD dissertation from the Labor History journal, and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa prize for best African PhD thesis.

Emma Mashinini was a South African trade unionist and political leader. Living in Johannesburg, her family was forcibly displaced several times during her childhood. She started working at age 14 and soon became a union organiser at her garment factory. She became active with the African National Congress (ANC) in 1956. Mashinini served for 12 years on the executive board of the National Union of Clothing Workers (NUCW) and founded the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) in 1975. She was arrested and detained without charges for six months in 1981–82.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community House (Salt River, Cape Town)</span> Historic site of living heritage

Community House situated in Salt River, Cape Town is a unique and historic site of living heritage. It has always been known as a site of activism from around the mid-1980s which has shaped and continues to shape the socio-political landscape of its extended communities. The building itself houses NGO's and Trade Unions as well as a labour and community history museum centered on the Trade Union Library and its archive. It presently houses twenty-four organizations that focus on labour research, popular education, gender advocacy, HIV/AIDS education, environmental issues, youth development, media production and union organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Carneson</span>

Sarah Carneson was a South African labour organizer and anti-apartheid activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial Workers of the World (South Africa)</span> South African trade union

The Industrial Workers of the World (South Africa) or IWW (SA) had a brief but notable history in the 1910s-20s, and is particularly noted for its influence on the syndicalist movement in southern Africa through its promotion of the IWW's principles of industrial unionism, solidarity, and direct action, as well as its role in the creation of organizations such as the Industrial Workers of Africa and the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport and General Workers' Union (South Africa)</span> Trade union in South Africa

The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) was a trade union representing transport workers, and at times workers in other sectors, in South Africa.

The Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union (HARWU) was a trade union representing hospitality workers in South Africa.

The Cape Town Municipal Workers' Association (CTMWA) was a trade union representing local government workers in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Municipal Workers' Union of South Africa (MWUSA) was a trade union representing local government workers in South Africa.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Workers' Library and Museum, Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa: Advancing workers' education and culture". Archive.org . Workers' Library and Museum. 2002.
  2. ↑ Bozzoli, Belinda; Delius, Peter (1990). "Radical History and South African Society". Radical History Review. 46/47: 16.
  3. ↑ Young, Gordon (1983). "Cape Town Trade Union Library Opens". South African Labour Bulletin. 6 (6): 21–22.
  4. ↑ Sakhela Buhlungu, 2009, "From Labour Service Organisation to Social Justice?" in Vaun Cornell and Jon Berndt (eds.), Internationalism Then and Now: ILRIG's 25 Years of Workers' Education, Cape Town: International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG), pp. 57–58
  5. ↑ Luli Callinicos, 1993, "Labour History and Worker Education in South Africa," Labour History, number 63, pp. 169–170
  6. ↑ "Alan Robert Lipman". South African History Online.
  7. ↑ Reneé Grawitsky, 2002, "Recognising Working Class Culture [interview with Luli Callinicos],"South African Labour Bulletin, volume 26, number 1, p. 85
  8. 1 2 "[UPDATED] Adverts for Workers Library and Museum mention Bikisha". Southern African Anarchist & Syndicalist History Archive. Zabalaza Books. 22 October 2014.
  9. ↑ Lucien van der Walt, 2001, “Advancing Workers’ Education and Culture: Workshops and Bookshops at the Workers’ Library and Museum,” Debate: Voices from the South African left, number 6 (second series), pp. 78-79
  10. ↑ Lucien van der Walt, 2001, “Advancing Workers’ Education and Culture: Workshops and Bookshops at the Workers’ Library and Museum,” Debate: Voices from the South African left, number 6 (second series), p. 79
  11. ↑ "Notes and posters from the Workers' Library & Museum that was". Southern African Anarchist & Syndicalist History Archive. 12 May 2018.
  12. ↑ See Sakhela Buhlungu, 2009, "From Labour Service Organisation to Social Justice?" in Vaun Cornell and Jon Berndt (eds.), Internationalism Then and Now: ILRIG's 25 Years of Workers' Education, Cape Town: International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG), pp. 58-59
  13. ↑ "Getaways: The Workers Museum". Why Joburg.
  14. ↑ "Workers' Museum". Newton Heritage Trail.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.