ABSTRACT
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was launched in 1985 at the height of the uprising against the apartheid state. For the post-1973 union movement, the uprising that began in the Vaal Triangle in 1984 represented the first sustained entry of the unionised industrial working class in the direct political struggle against apartheid. Central to COSATU’s 1992 programme was the specification of a particular ‘growth path’ for the South African economy which would redress both the racial and the class questions facing the federation. The COSATU platform went on to deal with industrial policy, with the federation arguing that industrial policy must create and maintain full employment, produce high quality goods at affordable prices, ensure that employers pay a living wage, and contribute to human resource development. The adoption by COSATU of its ‘Social Equity and Job Creation’ document in 1996 is indicative of the federation’s move in the direction of Right-Keynesianism.
