The General and Allied Workers' Union (GAWU) was a general union in South Africa.
The union originated as the Transvaal section of the Black Allied Workers' Union.[1]: 344 In 1980, Rita Ndzanga and Mary Ntsike led a split which resulted in the formation of GAWU. It formed as a non-racial union.[1]: 344 Its members were made up of people from the brush and copper industries, mining house office workers, cleaners, scooter drivers, and petrol and transport workers.[1]: 344 Numerous local South African Congress of Trade Unions activists also joined, including Samson Ndou, Ephraim Shabangu, Samuel Pholoto and Sydney Mufamadi.[2][3]
By 1985, the union had 19,076 members. That year, it was a founding affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.[4] In 1987, it merged with the Health and Allied Workers' Union and the South African Allied Workers' Union, to form the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union.[5]
