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Article: Black Power Was Root Issue in Mine Strike;South African Unions Debate Future Role as Vehicle for Political Dissent
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 6, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The recently ended three-week miners' strike that pitted black
labor against white capital in the costliest labor action in South
Africa's history inevitably has led to a national debate over who
won.
"I thought we knew how tough the industry was," said Cyril
Ramaphosa, the energetic leader of the 300,000-strong National Union
of Mineworkers. "We didn't." The union retreated in the face of the
dismissal of more than 36,000 black miners and the imminent firing of
thousands more, and accepted a wage offer that it had scoffed at in
the strike's first days.
Bobby Goodsell, industrial relations director of Anglo American
Corp., the company hardest hit by the miners, called the strike "a
real ...