TheSouth African Industrial Federation (SAIF) was established in 1914 as an amalgamation of the Industrial Federations in the provinces of South Africa.
The federation attracted most of the trades unions in the country. It had a policy of support for white labour, believing that employers had a policy of using black labour to drive down wages. TheCape Federation of Labour Unions which represented many coloured workers refused to do so.
It was led byArchie Crawford, and its membership reached 60,000. It was active in theRand Rebellion in 1922, but it largely collapsed following the defeat of the associatedgeneral strike. The remnants of the federation attempted to reform as a singlegeneral union, the South African Industrial Union, but the government refused it permission to register, and it soon dissolved.[1] Instead, the federation was replaced in 1924 by theSouth African Trades Union Council.[2]
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