Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie

The Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie (SAOU), sometimes translated as the South African Teachers' Union, is a trade union representing principally Afrikaans-speaking teachers in South Africa.

The union was founded in 1905 to represent Afrikaans-speaking white teachers in the Cape Province. It aimed to improve the pay and working conditions of teachers, to promote education in general, and the use of the Afrikaans language.[1] It did not participate in the anti-apartheid movement.[2]

In 1991, the union affiliated to the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA), a loose federation. However, in July 1996, it absorbed NAPTOSA's other Afrikaans-speaking affiliates, the Natal Onderwysunie and Onderwysunie van die Oranje Vrystaat, and resigned from NAPTOSA. It initially focused its campaigns on preserving exclusively Afrikaans-speaking schools. The union decided to work more closely with the mainstream trade union movement, and affiliated to the Federation of Unions of South Africa. In 2002, it had 41,315 members, falling to 32,029 in 2011.[3][4] The union works with NAPTOSA, the Natal Association of Teachers' Unions and the Professional Educators' Union in the Combined Trade Unions, for the purpose of recognition by the Education Labour Relations Chamber.[5]

References
  1. Gitsham, Ernest; Trembath, James H. (1926). A first account of labour organisation in South Africa (PDF). Durban: E. P. & Commercial Printing. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  2. Kihn, Paul (1993). PLAYERS OR PAWNS?: "PROFESSIONALISM" AND TEACHER DISUNITY IN THE WESTERN CAPE, 1980-1990 (PDF). Cape Town: University of Cape Town. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  3. Govender, Loganathan Velayudam (2008). TEACHERS’ PARTICIPATION IN POLICY MAKING: THE CASE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS ACT (PDF). Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. "COSATU's membership: All the facts". Politics Web. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  5. Zengele, Vincent Thulani (2009). THE INVOLVEMENT OF TEACHER UNIONS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF EDUCATORS’ ACT 76 OF 1998 (PDF). Pretoria: University of South Africa. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
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