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The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) 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,〔One Union expelled, and seven Unions voluntarily suspended their participation in COSATU〕〔http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Labour/News/More-unions-quit-Cosatus-exec-body-20141110〕 altogether organising 1.8 million workers. ==History== On 30 Nov 1985, 33 unions met at the University of Natal for talks on forming a federation of trade unions.〔http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/congress-south-african-trade-unions-cosatu〕 This followed four years of unity talks between competing unions and federations that were opposed to apartheid and were "committed to a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa." COSATU was officially established on 1 December 1985. Among the founding unions was the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU). Elijah Barayi was the organisation’s first president and Jay Naidoo the first general secretary.〔 Several resolutions were passed at this first meeting that defined the aim of the federation and how the federation operates, namely:〔 * To establish one union for each industry within six months. * To focus on the exploitation of women workers. * To call for the lifting of the state of emergency, withdrawal of troops from the townships and release of all political prisoners. * To continue the call for international pressure, including disinvestment. * To demand for the right to strike and picket. * To determine a national minimum wage. * To extend the struggle for trade union rights in the homelands. The COSATU congress decided in 2012 to affiliate with the class-struggle oriented World Federation of Trade Unions, while maintaining its membership within the International Trade Union Confederation. On 5–6 May 1987 a strike as part of COSATU's Living Wage Campaign was held coinciding with 1987 General Election. More than 2.5 million workers took part in the stay-away. On 7 May 1987, in the early hours of the morning two bombs exploded near the support columns in the basement of the federation headquarters, COSATU House. The resulting damage caused the building to be declared unsafe.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Congress of South African Trade Unions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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