Florence De Villiers, General Secretary of the South African Domestic Workers Union (SADWU), will visit New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago and Detroit from October 9-20, where she will meet with women active in the trade union, women's, and civil rights movements. De Villiers wishes to learn about African American women's struggles for racial and economic equality, political advocacy, and equal protection under law, A second focus is to exchange views with trade unionists and others who organize or provide services to household workers, such as home health care workers. The National Tour Coordinator is Mike Fleshman. Household labor is the single largest employer of Black women in South...
Florence De Villiers, General Secretary of the South African Domestic Workers Union (SADWU), will visit New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago and Detroit from October 9-20, where she will meet with women active in the trade union, women's, and civil rights movements. De Villiers wishes to learn about African American women's struggles for racial and economic equality, political advocacy, and equal protection under law, A second focus is to exchange views with trade unionists and others who organize or provide services to household workers, such as home health care workers. The National Tour Coordinator is Mike Fleshman. Household labor is the single largest employer of Black women in South Africa outside of subsistence agriculture, and they are among the lowest paid and most marginalized of all South Africans. The SADWU continues its important work of empowering domestic workers for full participation in building a new South Africa. SADWU assists members in resolving disputes, filing grievances, and winning back pay, benefits and severance packages. The story of SADWU is a story of resistance, and it is part of the broader history of women's emancipation, union organizing, and anti-apartheid opposition in South Africa. The document briefly describes the history of domestic workers' struggles in South Africa. SADWU is affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and sits on the federation's governing Central Executive Committee. The mailing includes a reprint from the South African Labour Bulletin, "A lifetime of struggle" that profiles Florrie de Villiers. The mailing mentions the ANC (African National Congress), the Christian Institute, University of Western Cape, SASO (South African Students Organization), Black Consciousness Movement, Steve Biko, the bus boycott committee, Black Women's Federation, squatter camps, the Transkei, the Domestic Workers Association, SACTU (South African Congress of Trade Unions), and Gordon Young.
