Cosatu calls for three days national protest against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA)

Date: 5 Jun 1988
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

At its Special Congress in May, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) called for three days of national protest against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA) and restrictions on political organisations. The bill sought to curb the growing union movement and undermine gains made by workers since the 1970s. Cosatu's call led to the largest stay-away (5 - 7 June) up to that time in South African labour history and exceeded all expectations. On the first day, between 2.5 and three million workers stayed away. Though support in some areas dropped on the second and third days, it was considered as the country's first three-day national stay-away. Notwithstanding fierce opposition from major union federations, the act came into force on 1 September 1988.

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How we know this

01South African Institute of Race Relations. (1989). Race Relations Survey 1988/89, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 442.
02COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) [online] Available at: www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed on 5 June 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Cosatu calls for three days national protest against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA). South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012745

South African History Online (2011) 'Cosatu calls for three days national protest against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA)', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012745 (Accessed: 24 September 2026).

South African History Online, Cosatu calls for three days national protest against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA) [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012745, (accessed 24 September 2026).

"Cosatu calls for three days national protest against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA)." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012745. Accessed 24 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Cosatu calls for three days national protest against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA)." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012745.