From 1904 onwards many attempts were made to bring about unity in the trade union movement by forming federations. The most successful of these early federations was the South African Trades and Labour Council (SATLC) which existed from 1930-1954, having been reconstituted in 1949. It did not, however, include all trade unions; some remained independent and some were members of other federations. Its existence as a multiracial organisation was threatened by the government's decision to segregate the trade union movement. SATLC strongly objected to the statement by the Minister of Labour, Mr B. Schoeman, on 13 March 1953 that "The policy of the government is that there should be no intermingling of Europeans and Non-Europeans in trade unions". The government then amended the Industrial Conciliation Act in such a way that trade unions would be divided according to race and certain jobs be reserved for Whites.
In reaction to this legislation and, realising that individual protests would be ineffective, a Trade Union Unity Committee was formed in February 1954 which called a Unity Conference in Cape Town for May. Representatives of more than 230,000 workers of all races met and gave the Unity Committee a mandate to set up a national trade union coordinating body. At the second Unity Conference held in Durban in October agreement was reached on a constitution and on 4 October 1954 the South African Trade Union Council was born with 61 unions representing 223 741 members. SATLC dissolved leaving the field to the new federation which, in 1962, changed its name to Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUC SA).
Unity had been achieved but at the expense of excluding Black unions from the new federation, although the constitution made provision for them to join at a later date. This in fact happened twice in 1962 and 1968 when TUCSA resolved to include Black unions but was forced to reverse the decision by pressure from the government and its own conservative White unions. It was 1974 before Black trade unions were finally admitted by which time they had become disillusioned with TUCSA. By steering a middle course TUCSA had pleased neither the conservative right nor the radical left.
In 1958 TUCSA briefly joined an all-embracing federation, extremely conservative in character, called the South African Confederation of Labour but from the beginning differed greatly from other members on important issues such as the recognition of Black trade unions. Matters came to a head when the Confederation decided to seek registration under the Industrial Conciliation Act and at a special conference held in September 1958 TUCSA resolved to withdraw from the Confederation.
Over the years TUCSA continued to work for Black advancement, encouraging the growth of Black trade unions and the formation in 1959 of the Federation of Free African Trade Unions of South Africa (FOFATUSA) for those Black unions which did not wish to join the radical South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), formed in 1955 when TUCSA ceased to be multiracial. TUCSA representatives served on various public bodies. TUCSA maintained international links with the International Labour Organisation and with the trade union movements in Britain, Germany, America and elsewhere.
TUCSA's chief executive was its General Secretary, with considerable freedom to speak on TUCSA's behalf. During the 32 years of its existence, TUCSA had only three General Secretaries,
Dulcie Hartwell 1954-1962
Terence O'Donoghue 1962-1964
James Arthur Grobbelaar 1965-1984
Conferences were held annually, delegating power to the National Executive Committee (NEC) to implement Its resolutions. In turn the NEC, which met quarterly, delegated responsibility to the Officers Committee which met monthly. The NEC also appointed committee: for specialist subjects such as African Affairs, education, housing and human rights. Head Office had a library, an Economic Research Bureau, a training department and a centralised public relations service. To help affiliates, Head Office issued memoranda and pamphlets on various subjects and published a Newsletter, in turn named Saamtrek, Unitas and Labour Mirror. The country was divided into five regions, Western Province, Eastern Province, Border, Transvaal and Natal, to coordinate the activities of workers in these areas.
At the height of its power in 1983 TUCSA had 57 affiliated unions with a membership of 478,420 but, when it dissolved three years later, there were only 32 unions representing 170,000 members. There were several reasons for this dramatic drop in membership, financial as well as political. The increase in affiliation fees and the withdrawal of some of the services offered by TUCSA owing to financial stringency caused some affiliates to feel that there were no benefits in retaining membership. TUCSA was attacked for its conservatism, its failure to support the call for May 1 and June 16 to be statutory holidays and to condemn detention without trial, its alleged cooperation with the government and its opposition to sanctions on South Africa by other countries. It was condemned for its lack of leadership, exacerbated by the death of its General Secretary, J.A. Grobbelaar in 1984, leaving a vacuum at a critical time. There were several efforts to find a successor which proved fruitless.
In 1985 TUCSA initiated discussions with affiliates and others to try to find the reasons for its failure but, during 1986, it became clear that the Council could no longer continue as a viable organisation. At a special conference on 2 December 1986 it was formally dissolved.