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In May 1948, when the Nationalist Government came to power, the union was engaged in a struggle with the clothing manufacturers. The agreement for the industry was about to terminate in July and, in March the union submitted the following demands for a new agreement:
1. An increase of five per cent in the basic wage of all workers and, in addition, five per cent on the cost of living allowance.
2. That the weekly hours of work be reduced from forty-two and a half to forty.
3. That a provident fund on a contributory basis be established for the industry.
There were also several minor demands. The Employers' Association not only rejected all the union's demands but, stressing the low wages that were being paid in the coastal areas, demanded a reduction in wages. The union was faced with the choice of either taking strike action or agreeing to submit to arbitration. On the 15th July 1948, a special general meeting of the union was held at the City Hall, Johannesburg, so that the members could decide which course of action we should take. Over four thousand men and women, full of enthusiasm and determination, crowded into the hall and many more stood in the foyer. I spoke for about forty-five minutes and gave a detailed report of the negotiations with the employers which, after almost four months, had reached a deadlock. The central executive committee of the union had unanimously decided to recommend arbitration, if the employers would agree to it, and strike action, should they refuse. The final decision was to be taken by the meeting. The workers listened very attentively and, when I had finished, we invited members from the floor to come up and express their views. Immediately, a small woman, accompanied by three others, mounted the platform, took a piece of paper from her handbag and started to read from it. Afrikaners are born orators and have no need to read their speeches. I at once guessed that this speech had been prepared elsewhere.
Instead of discussing the very important vital matter before the meeting, this Nationalist stooge surprised us all by saying:
"Mr. Sachs has promised that, after the war, he would demand from the employers the dismissal of all the 'Kaffirs' (a very insulting term for Africans) and the 'Bastermeide' (an equally offensive word meaning the Coloured girls)". Altogether there were about five thousand African and over seven thousand Coloured workers in the industry in the Transvaal, constituting between them an overall majority. All the Coloured workers and over two thousand African women were members of the union. To ask for their wholesale dismissal would have been not only absolutely contrary to union principles and the union's constitution, but sheer lunacy. Those who had prepared the speech knew perfectly well that I had neither the authority to make such a promise, nor would I ever, under any circumstances, have stood for the exclusion of workers from the industry because of then- race and colour. The Nationalist disrupters, however, have never concerned themselves with facts and truths, or with helping to improve the workers' conditions. Their only aim was to sow suspicion and discord among the workers and to try to break up the union.
After four months of negotiations with the employers, working practically day and night to prepare the union's case, I felt utterly exhausted. But this deliberate attempt to disrupt the union filled me with such rage and disgust that it acted like a tonic and gave me new energy. When Anna Scheepers, who presided, asked me to reply, the little woman and her supporters refused to leave the microphone, but I pushed them aside. Burning with anger, I told the workers that, whilst we were fighting desperately for better conditions, the Nationalist agents were plotting to destroy our organisation. I demanded that, before the meeting preceded any further with the vital questions under discussion, a vote of confidence, or no confidence, in the central executive committee and the officials must be taken. And I told the meeting, in the crudest and plainest words, that I was sick and tired of the Nazi scum and their filthy, underhand tricks. I was prepared to serve the workers is a trade unionist to the best of my ability, but if they wanted a 'Kaffir-Coolie" politician, they must look for someone else.
A storm of indignation swept through the hall and hundreds of workers stood up in their seats, demanding the expulsion of the four disrupters. But order was quickly restored and thousands of lands were raised in a vote of confidence in the leaders of the union. Only three hands were raised against.
For another thirty minutes I lashed out against the enemies if the workers and of the trade union movement. Of those present, well over four thousand were Afrikaners and many were Nationalists. Very few were completely free from racial prejudices, but all clearly showed their hatred of the Nationalist Party's tricks.
The meeting unanimously decided to accept the recommendations of the committee and to seek arbitration. At first the employers rejected arbitration, but later changed their minds.
In the present dispute, the main concern of the union was the 40-hour week. This demand, if granted, would have meant not only fewer working hours, but also another important advantage for the thousands of workers who, by leaving work half-an-hour earlier, would have avoided the rush-hour traffic. The passenger transport system in Johannesburg has always been one of the worst in the world, and workers are compelled to waste much time waiting in bus or tram queues. The introduction of a 40-hour week would have saved the workers much discomfort and delay.
Since the union was the "plaintiff", it was mutually agreed that it should present its case first. The officials and staff, for many weeks, had worked until two and three in the morning to prepare the union's case, and a bulky memorandum, which covered over a hundred pages, was presented to the arbitration tribunal. We felt that we had a good case, but our greatest difficulty was to make the three taught barristers who had been chosen as arbitrators and who had no previous association with industry, understand our arguments. Two days after the proceedings started, we decided on a complete change of tactics. Discarding our lengthy memoranda, we put into the witness box twenty women workers with long experience in the industry. We asked them to describe to the tribunal the working day of a woman garment worker. In simple language the witnesses told of their unceasing toil both in the home and the factory and of their efforts to live cleanly and decently on the low wages they were paid. Their obvious honesty and the conviction with which they related their stories made a far greater impression on the arbitrators than all the facts and figures which the union had prepared. We then suggested to the arbitrators that they visit a number of factories to see for themselves. When these three gentlemen, who had spent all their professional lives in the quiet precincts of their chambers and the courts, saw the mad rush, the tremendous speed, and the deadly monotony of the work, they were even more impressed.
On the 14th September 1948, the arbitrators gave their award, granting the forty-hour week and several other minor demands of the union. In spite of their strenuous opposition to the reduction in hours, the employers accepted the award and several of them thanked me because, now, they would have time to play golf in the afternoons.
There was no decrease in production. Indeed, in some factories output increased.