At a time of high unemployment and diminishing trade union influence, the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) this month celebrates 35 years of growth and wealth — but not without a little despair.

Sactwu was founded in 1989, when the Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union of South Africa merged with the Garment & Allied Workers’ Union of South Africa. Its membership has fluctuated from 100,000 during the jobs bloodbath of the 1990s to 186,000 in 2019, to 126,000 today...

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