1973 - Widespread strikes in Durban. Mawu, NUTW, IAS, IIE, SALB and TUACC emerge.
1976-77 - Student uprisings and the banning of Saso and other organisations. The clampdown, while targeting the BC movement, is partly a response to re-emerging worker organisation.
1979-80 - Formation of Fosatu and Cusa. Saawu, AFCWU, WPGWU, CTMWA emerge.
1979 - Wiehann Commission report released.
1981 - August - First formal trade union unity talks, Langa, Cape Town.
1982 - 5 February - Neil Aggett dies in detention.
April - Second round of unity talks, Wilgespruit.
July - Third unity talks summit, Port Elizabeth.
1983 - April - Athlone unity talks and the first feasibility committee meeting.
June - Launch of the United Democratic Front.
1984 - March - Johannesburg unity talks.
September - Vaal township uprisings.
September - Sfawu launches Simba chips boycott after dismissal of 450 workers, management soon reinstates the workers.
5/6 November - 800,000 workers support Transvaal regional stayaway called jointly by Cosas and unions. Student and union leaders detained.
1985 - 21 March - Police open fire on marchers commemorating Sharpeville Day, in Langa township, Uitenhage. Twenty people die.
May - British multinational BTR-Sarmcol dismisses 900 striking workers, starting South Africa's longest ever dispute.
July - State of emergency declared in the Eastern Cape and PWV.
August - Cosas banned.
June - Unity talks at Ipelegeng, Soweto, resolves to go ahead with the launch of the federation.
November/December - Congress of South African Trade Unions launched in the context of widespread township uprisings and intense repression.
December - Cosatu general secretary Jay Naidoo meets Sactu and the ANC in Harare.
January - 30,000 workers at Impala Platinum mines down tools. Management dismiss 23,000 workers and strikes on other mines follow.
February - Thousands of metalworkers in Natal and Transvaal protest against detention of Mawu general secretary Moses Mayekiso.
18 February - Cosatu Exco in formal meeting with the UDF.
5/6 March - Cosatu delegation meets the ANC and Sactu. Talks cover the future economic system, the role of the working class in the national liberation struggle, the release of Mandela and negotiations.
7 March - State of emergency lifted. Almost 12,152 people had been detained and 853 people killed nationwide.
1 May - 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 GWU merge to form one union, TGWU.
12 June - 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 forced into hiding.
June - FCWU, Sfawu and Rawu merge to form Fawu.
16 June - 1.5 million workers nationwide stay away to commemorate the 1976 uprisings.
August - Pass laws scrapped.
August - Cosatu East London offices burnt down.
September - 177 mineworkers die at the Kinross goldmine. Gencor tries to keep the press and union officials from the accident site. In response, Num calls a work stoppage on 1 October - 325,000 miners respond.
October - Sarhwu relaunched at a secret congress in Grahamstown.
October - Cusa and Azactu merge to form Nactu.
November - Sadwu launched uniting workers from Sadwa and regionally based organisations.
December - Tucsa dissolves.
December - A number of Sarmcol workers terrorised and killed.
18 December - Ccawusa members at OK Bazaars go on strike for a minimum wage of R450. The strike lasts 77 days.
31 January - Cawu launched.
January - the National Unemployed Workers Coordinating Committee launched.
February - Num adopts the Freedom Charter.
March - Workers at Sats City Deep depot down tools over an unfair dismissal. By April 20,000 workers had joined the strike.
22 April - 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.
29 April - 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.
April - 8,000 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.
5 May - 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.
7 May - Two massive bomb blasts rock Cosatu House, the building is declared unsafe. Cosatu, Num, Pwawu, TGWU, Sarhwu and Mawu offices were in this building.
23 May - Six unions merge to launch Numsa.
5 June - Sats management concede to all of Sarhwu members demands and all dismissed workers are reinstated.
June - Nehawu launched.
July - South African Youth Congress (Sayco) launched at secret meeting in Cape Town.
July - Cosatu's second national congress adopts the Freedom Charter as a guiding document. "Hands off Cosatu" campaign launched.
August - Num announces a legal industry-wide strike after wage negotiations deadlock. The strike lasts 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 Chambers' wage offer.
September - Ppwawu launches with 23,000 members from Pwawu and Nupawo.
October - Samwu launches, representing 17,000 workers.
October - First Cosatu education conference.
November - Actwusa launched; WPGWU & GWIU merge to form GAWU.
1988 the third year
Years of innovation in collective bargaining, the Living Wage Campaign takes root, workers and their unions increasingly strengthened as the apartheid crisis deepens
24 February - 17 organisations, including the UDF, effectively banned. Cosatu's 'political' activities restricted.
March - Cosatu and Saccola meet for the first time to discuss amendments to the LRA.
April - First Cosatu women's conference.
May - 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.
14 May - Cosatu special congress convenes to discuss a response to the restrictions.
6/7/8 June - Between 2.5 and 3 million people stay away to protest restrictions of organisations.
31 August - Khotso House, headquarters of South African Council of Churches and the UDF, destroyed by a bomb blast.
1 September - The new Labour Relations Amendment Act (LRAA) becomes law. It includes the six offensive clauses Cosatu and Nactu wanted suspended.
24 September - The broad-based Anti-Apartheid Conference (AAC) is banned.
26 October - Millions boycott the municipal elections - less than 10% of eligible black voters go to the polls.
October - Potwa affiliates to Cosatu.
1989 fourth year
January - State president PW Botha suffers a stroke and FW de Klerk takes over the reigns.
4/5 March - First Workers Summit. Cosatu, 11 Nactu affiliates and 16 non-affiliated unions meet to discuss a response to the new LRA.
April - Numsa general secretary Moses Mayekiso released from prison following his acquittal on treason charges.
May - Government decrees that Workers Day will now fall on the first Monday in May. Conveniently, May 1 1989 is a Monday!
July - Cosatu initiates peace process in Natal, but the process collapses after Inkatha calls for a moratorium on talks.
July - Cosatu's third national congress convenes, 1 858 delegates represent a membership of 924,000. The mood is defiant, SACP and ANC banners (still banned at the time) decorate the hall. The Workers Charter Campaign is launched. Negotiations and the idea of an Anti-Apartheid Conference are common themes.
26 July - The MDM launches the National Defiance Campaign. Hundreds of thousands take to the streets throughout the country carrying ANC and SACP banners.
August - The Second Workers Summit is restricted. Police surround the venue and video tape proceedings.
August - ANC's Harare Declaration adopted at the UN.
September - Stayaways, demonstrations, an overtime ban and consumer boycotts are launched against the LRA, to pressurise employers to negotiate.
September - Sactwu launches, uniting Gawu and Actwusa and 180,000 workers in the textile industry.
6 September - Millions of South Africans stay home as white South Africa votes to return the National Party to power. FW de Klerk installed as state president.
October - Walter Sisulu and other Riviona trialists released from prison.
11 November - Saccawu launched with a paid-up membership of 85,000.
9 December - At the Conference for a Democratic Future, 3,000 delegates representing a range of organisations meet to discuss conditions for negotiations with the government.
1990 The transition years
2 February - De Klerk opens parliament and unbans the ANC, SACP and PAC.
17 February - Thousands of workers march in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Durban and Port Elizabeth protesting the privatisation of the post office.
11 February - After months of speculation, Nelson Mandela eventually released from prison.
February - Numsa members at the Mercedes Benz factory in East London build a special bullet-proof luxury car as a gift to Mandela. Each employee worked a few hours unpaid overtime and the car rolls off the line in four days (it normally takes 38), with only 9 faults (the average is 68).
19 March - A meeting between Sactu and Cosatu in Zambia resolves to phase out Sactu with the objective of achieving one country, one federation.
29 March - 15,000 public sector workers protest the state's privatisation drive by marching to the JSE.
March - Armed Inkatha supporters attack residents in Pietermaritzburg. Close to 100 people die and the democratic movement alleges police complicity.
9 April - Cosatu in Natal calls for a stayaway to protest police action in the townships.
May - The government finally admits defeat and declares 1 May Worker Day! It has taken four years to acknowledge what the majority proclaimed in 1986!
May - Mac Maharaj and Siphiwe Nyanda arrested for Operation Vula.
May - CNS Accord puts an end to one of the longest campaigns undertaken by Cosatu.
9 May - 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.
11 May - Cosatu-Nactu-Saccola sign an accord, endorsing basic labour rights for all workers and agreeing to reverse the most offensive provisions of the 1988 LRAA.
May - QwaQwa civil servants embark on a month-long strike until they are finally granted the right to join unions and bargain.
13-26 June - 10,000 council workers strike in Cape Town, demanding an end to racist employment practices and a living wage.
20 June - Cosatu stages anti-LRA march.
2 July - Three million people join a stayaway called by Cosatu, the ANC and the UDF to protest the violence and Inkatha attacks.
August - Violence spreads from Natal to the Witwatersrand, claiming 1000 lives in two months.
13 September - In South Africa's worst train massacre, 26 are killed and 100 injured at Jeppe Station.
13 September - The Laboria Minute, signed at a meeting between the government, Cosatu, Nactu and Saccola, recognises basic worker rights, including the right to organise and bargain collectively.
September - Cosatu campaigns conference relaunches the Living Wage Campaign calling for the right to a living wage, centralised bargaining, job security and an end to privatisation.
October - Sadtu launched, bringing together 100,000 teachers.
1991
16 May - Sadwu pickets outside Department of Manpower offices for domestic workers to be included in the LRA.
15 June - Alliance march to John Vorster square protesting police violence.
27 July - Cosatu holds its 4th National Congress.
14 September - Peace Accord signed.
November- Cosatu launches anti-VAT strike.
2 November - Women from Cosatu, PAC, ANC and Nactu stage an anti-VAT march to the Department of Manpower.
November - Numsa suspends its president, Maxwell Xulu, for allegedly spying for the police.
20-21 December - Codesa convenes with Cosatu representatives as part of the ANC and SACP delegations.
1992
14 January - 10,000 miners attend a mass rally in Bophuthatswana as part of a mass action campaign to pressurise De Klerk into reincorporating Bop into SA.
March - The white electorate votes "yes" in the whites-only referendum, giving the NP the mandate to negotiate towards a new South Africa.
18 March - Cosatu stages Budget Day march.
15-16 May - Codesa 2 meets.
3 August - Mass action campaign embarked on by the tripartite alliance kicks off with the biggest stayaway in South African history - 4 million workers stay away over two days.
7 September - 32 killed and 200 injured in the Bisho massacre.
1993
10 April - Chris Hani assassinated. On 14 April and on the day of Hani's funeral, 4 million workers stay away from work.
1 June - Negotiations at the World Trade Centre agree to a two-phased transitional process with built-in guarantees for constitutional principles and functions of regions.
2 June 1993 - 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.
3 June - 27 April 1994 set as the date for SA's first non-racial elections.
3 June - Cosatu calls for a consumer boycott of Checkers/Shoprite stores in support of striking workers.
6 June - Close to 36,000 people in Bloemfontein form a peace chain stretching 36 km.
9 June - 12,000 Numsa members march to Iscor's offices in Pretoria demanding job sharing and calling for overtime to be scrapped.
16 June - Cosatu and Nactu call on workers to participate in rallies on the 17th anniversary of June 16.
24 June - 500 Sarhwu workers in Cape Town march to Spoornet offices in support of a demand to end unilateral restructuring of public enterprises.
25 June - 500 AWB and Afrikaner Volksfront supporters storm the World Trade Centre multi-party negotiations.
1 July - Tripartite alliance calls for a stayaway to protest the right-wing assault on the World Trade Centre.
1 July - Armed white residents of Koppies (OFS) surround the black township of KwaKwatsi. People are prevented from leaving the township.
19 July - NUM and Hartebeesfontein mine management agree on plans to restore calm after weeks of violence claimed 19 lives.
7 September - Interim Constitution signed by all negotiating parties, preparations begin for democratic elections.
September - Cosatu special congress discusses the RDP, Platform of Worker's Rights and nominates 20 officials for the ANC's election list.
1 February - Bophuthatswana Health workers go on strike after Mangope refuses to participate in April elections.
11 March - Mangope vacates his seat as president of Bophuthatswana, after civil servants, nurses, teachers and factory workers' strikes render his bantustan ungovernable.
27 April - First democratic elections for Government of National Unity. ANC wins resounding victory, nearly obtaining two-thirds of votes cast.
11 May - Nelson Mandela inaugurated as South Africa's first democratically elected President.
15 July - Saccawu strike at Shoprite/Checkers for wage increases.
10 August - Numsa motor sector strike.
13 October - Portnet employees in Cape Town demand an end to privatisation of port facilities.
November - RDP ministry outlines 1995/96 budget. Includes 1bn on municipal infrastructure, 1bn on rural land and water projects, 1bn on job creation projects and 2,5 bn to be spent on 22 continuing projects.
December - Government releases white paper on housing. Includes a R270 million annual subsidy for the poor.
February - National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) launched with former Cosatu negotiations co-ordinator Jayendra Naidoo as first executive director.
February - Draft LRA Bill released.
March - A long-standing Cosatu resolution finally implemented as Saapawu is launched.
March - Sasbo affiliates to Cosatu.
April - Cosatu's international policy conference.
June - Cosatu organises huge countrywide LRA marches.
September - The new Labour Relations Act passed by parliament in what is seen as a victory for labour.
October - Labour legislation extended to former bantustans.
October - Popcru and the IPS affiliate to Cosatu.
October - Uwusa, launched as the much-vaunted opposition to Cosatu in 1986, on the verge of collapse. Plans announced to launch a new IFP-aligned federation.
October - Nedlac releases discussion paper proposing a range of social partnerships to foster development.
October - SA government signs trade agreement with the Philippines without a social clause.
October - Cosatu policy conference on health, safety and the environment.
1 November - The country (except KwaZulu-Natal 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.
2 December - Back to our roots - the main activity celebrating 10 fighting years of Cosatu is held at Durban's King's Park Stadium, the site of the original launching rally in 1985.