The ANC, SACP and PAC banned. Sactu exiled. Progressive unionism, in which COSATU undoubtedly has its origins and, had been in existence for nearly 45 years.

Widespread strikes in Durban. Mawu, NUTW, IAS, IIE, SALB and TUACC emerge.

Student uprisings and the banning of Saso and other organisations. The clampdown, while targeting the Black Consciousness movement, is partly a response to re-emerging worker organisation.

Formation of Fosatu and Cusa, Saawu, AFCWU, WPGU, and CTMWA emerge

Weihann Commission report released

August- First formal trade union talks, in Langa Cape Town.

Neil Agget dies in detention.

Second round of unity talks, Wilgespruit.

Third unity talks summit, Port Elizabeth.

Athlone unity talks and the first feasibility committee meeting.

Launch of the United Democratic Front.

March - Johannesburg unity talks.

Vaal township uprisings

Sfawu launches Simba chips boycott after dismissal of 450 workers that resulted in the reinstatement of workers.

800 000 workers support Transvaal regional stayaway called jointly by Cosas and unions. Students and union leaders detained.

Police open fire on marchers commemorating Sharpville Day, in Langa township, Uitenhage. Twenty people die.

British multinational BTR Sarmcol dismisses 900 striking workers, starting South Africa's longest ever dispute.

State of emergency declared in the Eastern Cape and PWV.

Cosas banned. June - Unity talks at Ipelegeng, Soweto, resolves to go ahead with the launch of the federation.

Congress of South African Trade Unions launched in the context of widespread township uprising and intense repression.

COSATU general secretary Jay Naidoo meets Sactu and the ANC in Harare.

30 000 workers at Impala Platinum mines down tools. Management dismiss 23 000 workers and strikes on other mines below.

Thousands of metal workers in Natal and Transvaal protest against detention of Mawu general secretary Moses Mayekiso.

COSATU Executive Committee hold a formal meeting with the UDF.

COSATU delegation meets the ANC and Sactu. Talks cover the future economic system, the role of the working class in the national liberation struggle and the release of Mandela and negotiations.

7 March

State of emergency lifted. Almost 12 152 people had been detained and 853 people killed nationwide.

100th anniversary of May Day. About 1.5 million workers heed COSATU's call to attend rallies instead of going to work (stayaway calls were illegal). The UDF supports the call. - Inkatha launches Uwusa. The rally opens with a mock funeral as coffins marked 'Barayi','COSATU' and 'Naidoo' are carried into the stadium. May - TGWU and CWU merge to form one union, TGWU.

A second, harsher state of emergency declared. Armed men carrying machine guns and shotguns break into Jay Naidoo's house. Six weeks into the emergency, 2 700 unionists have been detained. Open political activity severely curtailed.Many force hiding. June - FCWU, Sfawu and Rawu merge to form Fawu.

1.5 million workers nationwide stay away to commemorate the 1976 uprisings.

COSATU East London offices burnt down. August - Pass laws scrapped.

177 mineworkers die at the Kinross goldmine. Cencor tries to keep the press and union officials from the accident site. In response, Num calls a work stoppage on 1 October - 324 000 miners respond.

Sarhwu relaunched at a secret congress in Grahamstown

Cusa and Azactu merge to form Nactu.

Sadwu launched uniting workers from Sadwa and regionally bases organisations

Tucsa dissolves

A number of Sarmcol workers terrorised and killed.

Ccawusa members at OK Bazaars go on strike for a minimum wage of R450. The strike lasts 77 days.

the National Unemployment Workers Coordinating Committee launched.

Num adopts the Freedom Charter

Workers at Sats City Deep depot down tools over an unfair dismissal. By April 20 000 workers had joined the strike.

Police break up meeting of striking Sats workers in Germiston, killing three. In Doornfontein, police open fire on a group of strikers on their way to Germiston, killing another three workers. 200 heavily armed police enter COSATU House, searching and destroying property and detaining over 400 people.

After the bodies of four Sats scab workers are found, police again lay siege on COSATU House, claiming the killings took place in the building.

8000 Potwa workers on strike. Four months later, 21 000 workers go on strike. May - The state declares the first Friday of every May, Workers Day.

2.5 million people join in two-day stayaway called by the UDF and COSATU in response to the whites only elections on May 6.

Two massive bomb blasts rock COSATU House, the building is declared unsafe. COSATU, Num, Pwawu, TGWU, Sarhwu and Mawu offices were in this building.

Six unions merge to launch Numsa.

Sats management concede to all of Sarhwu member's demands and all dismissed workers are reinstated. The same year Numsa is launched.

South African Youth Congress (Sayco) is launched at a secret meeting in Cape Town. The same year COSATU's second national congress adopts the Freedom Charter as a guiding document. "Hands off COSATU" campaign is launched too.

Num announces a legal industry-wide strike after wage negotiations deadlock. The strike last 21 days. Mine management responds with a heavy hand. In the conflict that follows, 11 workers are killed, 600 injured, 500 arrested and 50 000 dismissed. On 28 August workers return to work after Num accepts the Chamber's wage offer.

Ppwawu launches with 23 000 members from Ppwawu and Nupawo.

Samwu launches, representing 17 000 workers. The same year the first COSATU education conference is held.

Actwusa launched;WPGW and GWIU merge to form CAWU.

17 organisations, including the UDF, effectively banned. COSATU's 'political' activities restricted.

COSATU and Saccola meet for the first time to discuss amendments to the LRA.

First COSATU women's conference.

Organised workers mark May Day on Sunday 1 May and take off the government's "Workers Day" on Friday May 6, arguing that the government should reap what it has sown.

COSATU special congress convenes to discuss a response to the restrictions.

Between 2.5 and 3 million people stay away to protest restrictions of organisations.

Khotso House, headquarters of South African Council of Churches and the UDF, destroyed by bomb blast.

The new Labour Relations Amendment Act (LRAA) becomes law. It includes the six offensive clauses COSATU and Nactu wanted suspended.

The broad-based Anti-Apartheid Conference (AAC) is banned.

Millions boycott the municipal elections - less than 10% of eligible black voters go to the polls. The same year Potwa affiliates to COSATU.

State president PW Botha suffers a stroke and FW de Klerk takes over the reigns.

First Workers Summit takes place. COSATU, 11 Nactu affiliates and 16 non affiliated unions meet to discuss a response to the new LRA.

Numsa general secretary Moses Mayekiso released from prison following his acquittal on treason charges.

Government decrees that Workers Day will now fall on the first Monday in May. Conveniently, May 1 1989 is a Monday.

COSATU initiates peace process in Natal, but the process collapses after Inkatha calls for a moratorium on talks.

COSATU's third national congress convenes, 1 858 delegated represent a membership of 924 000. the mood is defiant, SACP and ANC banners (still banned at that time) decorate the ball

The Workers Charter Campaign is launched. Negotiations and the idea of an Anti-Apartheid Conference are common themes.

The MDM launches the National Defiance Campaign. Hundreds of thousands take to the streets throughout the country carrying ANC and SACP banners. -

The Second Workers Summit is restricted. Police surround the venue and video tape proceedings. August - ANC's Harare Declaration adopted at the UN

Stayaways, demonstrations, an overtime ban and consumer boycotts are launched against the LRA, to pressurise employers to negotiate. The same year Sactwu is launched, uniting Gawu and Actwusa and 180 000 workers in the textile industry.

Millions of South Africans stay home as white South Africans votes to return the National Party to power. FW de Klerk installed as state president.

Walter Sisulu and other Revonia trialists are released from prison.

Saccawu launches with a paid up membership of 85 000.

At the conference for a Democratic Future, 3 000 delegates representing a range of organisations meet to discuss conditions for negotiations with the government.

De Klerk opens parliament and unbans the ANC, SACP and PAC

Thousands of Workers march in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Durban and Port Elizabeth protesting the privatisation of the post office.

After months of speculations, Nelson Mandela eventually got released from prison. he same year Numsa members at the Mercedez Benz factory in East London build a special bulletproof luxury car as a gift to Nelson Mandela. Each employee worked a few hours unpaid overtime and the car rolls off the line in four days (which normally takes 38days), with only 9 faults (the average is 68).

A meeting between Sactu and COSATU in Zambia resolves to phase out Sactu with the objective of achieving one country, one federation.

15 000 public sector workers protest the state's privatisation drive by marching to the JSE. The same year an armed Inkatha supporters attack residence in Pietermaritzburg. Close to 100 people die and the democratic movement alleges police complicity.

COSATU in Natal calls for a stayaway to protest police action in the township.

The government finally admits defeat and declares 1 May Workers Day! It has taken four years to acknowledge what the majority proclaimed in 1986!

COSATU CEC debates the Tripartite Alliance and a meeting of the ANC, SACP and COSATU formally constitutes the tripartite alliance under the leadership of the ANC. The same year Mac Maharaj and Siphiwe Nyanda are arrested for Operation Vula. CNS accord puts an end to one of the longest campaigns undertaken by COSATU.

COSATU, Nactu and Saccola sign an accord, endorsing basic labour rights for all workers and agreeing to reverse the most offensive provisions of the 1988 LRAA. The same year QwaQwa civil servants embark on a month-long strike until they are finally granted the right join unions and bargain.

10 000 council workers strike in Cape Town, demanding and end to racist employment practices and a living wage.

COSATU stages anti-LRA march.

Three million people join a stayaway called by COSATU, the ANC and the UDF to protest the violence and Inkatha attacks.

Violence spreads from Natal to the Witwatersrand, claiming on thousand lives in two months.

In South Africa's worst train massacre, 26 are killed and 100 injured at Jeppe station. The very same day the Labour Minute, signed by at a meeting between the government, COSATU, Nactu and Saccola, recognises basic worker rights, including the rights t organise and bargain collectively. The same month saw the COSATU campaign conference launching again the Living Wage Campaign calling for the right to a living wage, centralised bargaining, job security and an end to privatisation.

Sadtu launched, bringing together 100 000 teachers.

Sadwu pickets outside Department of Manpower offices for domestic workers to be included in the LRA.

Alliance march to John Vorster square protesting police violence

COSATU holds its 4th National Congress.

Peace Accord is signed. November - COSATU launches anti-Vat strike.

Women from COSATU, PAC, ANC and Nactu stage an anti-Vat march to the Department of Manpower.

Codesa convenes with COSATU representatives as part of the ANC and SACP delegations.

10 000 miners attend a mass rally in Bophuthatswana as part of a mass action campaign to pressurise De Klerk into incorporating Bophuthatswana in South Africa. March - The white electorate votes "yes" in the whites-only referendum, giving the NP the mandate to negotiate towards a new South Africa.

COSATU stages Budget Day march.

Codesa 2 meets.

Mass action campaign embarked on by the tripartite alliance kicks off with the biggest stayway in South African history - 4 million workers stay away over two days.

32 killed and 200 injured in the Bisho massacre.

Chris Hani is assassinated. On 14 April and also in the day of his funeral,4 million workers stay away from work.

Negotiations at the World Trade Centre agree to a two-phased transitional process with built-in guarantee for constitutional principles and functions of regions.

COSATU suspends a consumer boycott of Matatiele after the ANC and the municipality reach a compromise on the re-employment of 130 dismissed municipal workers.

is being set as the date for the first democratic and no-racial elections in this country. The same day COSATU calls for a consumer boycott on Checkers/Shoprite stores in support of striking worker.

Close to 36 000 people in Bloemfontein form a peace chain stretching 36 km.

12 000 Numsa members march to Iscor's offices in Pretoria demanding job sharing and calling for overtime to be scrapped.

COSATU and Nactu call on workers to participate in rallies on the 17th anniversary of June 16.

500 Sarhwu workers in Cape Town march to Spoornet offices in support of a demand to end unilateral restructuring of public enterprises.

500 AWB and Afrikaner Volksfront supporters storm the World Trade centre multi-party negotiations.

Tripartite Alliance calls for a stayway to protest the right-wing assault on the World Trade Centre. The same day armed white residents of Koppies (in OFS) surround the black townships of Kwakwatsi. People are prevented from leaving the township.

NUM and Hartebeesfontein mine management agree on plans to restore calm after weeks of violence claimed 19 lives.

Interim Constitution signed by all negotiating parties, preparations begin for democratic elections.The same month COSATU special Congress discusses the RDP, Platform of Workers' Rights and nominates 20 officials for the ANC election list.

22 January

Elijah Barayi dies.

Bophuthatswana Health workers go on strike after Mangope refuses to participate in April elections.

Mangope vacates his seat as president of Bophuthatswana, after civil servants, nurses, teachers, and factory workers' strikes render his Bantustan ungovernable.

The big day in the history of South Africa. First democratic, non-racial elections for the government of National Unity are held. ANC wins resounding victory, nearly obtaining two thirds of votes cast.

Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as the first black president of the democratically elected government.

Saccawu strike at Shoprite/Checkers for wage increases.

Numsa motor sector strike.

Portnet employees in Cape Town demand an end to privatisation of port facilities.

RDP ministry outlines 1995 / 96 budgets. Includes one billion or rural land and water projects, 1bn on job creation projects and 2.5 bn to be spending on 22 continuing projects.

Government releases white paper on housing. Includes a R270 million annual subsidy for the poor.

January

Cde. Joe Slovo dies.

National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) is launched with former COSATU negotiations co-ordinator Jayendra Naidoo as its first executive director. The same month the Draft LRA Bill is released

A long-standing COSATU resolution finally implemented as Saapawu is launched. The same month Sasbo affiliates to COSATU.

COSATU organises huge countrywide LRA marches.

The new Labour Relations Act is being passed by parliament in what is seen as a victory for labour.

Labour legislation extended to former Bantustans. The same month Popcru and the IPS affiliate to COSATU. Uwusa is being launched as the much-vaunted opposition to COSATU in 1986, on the verge of collapse. Plans announced to launch a new IFP-aligned federation.

Nedlac releases discussion paper proposing a range of social partnership to foster development. South African government signs trade agreement with the Philippines without a social clause. COSATU policy conference on health, safety and the environment.

The country (except KZN and the Cape Town metropolis) goes to the polls again for local government elections. ANC wins more than two-thirds of the votes and makes inroads into NP support amongst rural coloured voters in the Western Cape.

campaign for jobs organised by three unions, Sactwu, CWIU, Potwa and Sarhwu

The Cosatu Wage Campaign Conference is being held to discuss issues around job creation and wages.

Three unions, Potwa, Saptea and Peata merge to form strong 41 000 member union, CWI

Cosatu's third Women National Congress is being held in Johannesburg

Saccawu National Congress takes place

Saccawu holds its fifth National Congress

Cosatu alliance partner, SACP, celebrates its 75 Anniversary with a series of events organised to mark the occasion.

NUM commemorates the 1946 mineworkers strike. African Mineworkers Union's JB Marks led the strike. Sapsa, with a strong 14 000 membership, joins COSATU

124 members of the newly formed CCM are sworn in few days after the implementation of the new LRA by the labour court Justice, John Mayburg.

Numsa holds its fifth National Congress.

Union representatives from clothing, textile and leather sector from nine Southern African counteries, including, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe meets in Maputo to discuss crisis facing their sectors. Sactwu and the NAtional Union of Leather and Allied Workers represents SA.

Nineteen mineworkers are killed and some injured at the Mponeng gold mine owned by Anglo Gold. Twenty others are rescued.

Labour disputes are held between the government and the striking public sector unions. For the firts time white workers come out in large numbers to support the strike.

The organisation of trade union unity its 7th congress in Johannesburg with Nactu and Cosatu as hosts.

COSATU holds a special Central Executive meeting at which issues such as job losses and Aids campaigns are discussed.

COSATU affiliates Popcru, celebrates its 10th Anniversary since its establishment.

At a special COSATU congress delegates returns caps made from China as part of COSATU's commitment to "buy local" campaign.

COSATU holds a historic bilateral conference with Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja, Nigeria.

COSATU hosts 40 civil society organisations to address unemployment crisis.

COSATU's Public Service Delivery Congress is held under the theme "Unions Committed to Service Delivery"

ICFTU holds its 17th World Congress at the Durban's Convention Centre under the theme "Globalising Social Justice:

Trade Unionism into the 21st Century"

Num holds its 10th National Congress under the theme "fight poverty, create quality jobs".

The South African Transport and Allied (SATAWU) merges with Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU)

COSATU national office bearers stage a sit-in at Nedlac Offices after the government fails to sent equally ranked representatives to discuss unemployment crisis.

mwu scores victory against the iGoli 2002 as the Gauteng MEC for local government, Trevor Fowler, assures a moratorium on the implementation of the 2002 restructuring and privatisation plans for public utilities.

ANC holds its National General Council (NGC) in Port Elizabeth.

Numsa holds its 6th National Congress with some of the important issues such as the implementation of the "ears to the ground" campaign, taking place.

COSATU holds its historic 7th National Congress at the Gallagar Estates.

The event is being televised to millions of South Africans across the country. 2 December - Celebration to COSATU's 15 years of selfless struggle for worker rights. The celebrations would be held at the Library Gardens in Johannesburg.