The Confederation of South African Workers' Unions (CONSAWU) is a national trade union centre in South Africa.

History

The federation was established in 2003 by 21 trade unions which identified themselves as Christian democratic. It applied for membership of the government's National Economic Development and Labour Council, but it was rejected for having a membership below 300,000. In 2006, it engaged in discussions about a merger with rivals the Federation of Unions of South Africa and the National Council of Trade Unions, although they later excluded CONSAWU from the talks, on the grounds that it was too right-wing. By 2008, the federation claimed a total of 290,000 members, of whom nearly half were members of its largest affiliate, Solidarity. It affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. It was largely inactive by 2017, but attempted to revive itself with a promise of lower affiliation fees than rival federations. Solidarity has since withdrawn, along with the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers, formerly its second-largest affiliate.

Affiliates

Current affiliates

Former affiliates