In 1985, almost 500,000 South African workers organized under the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Using blockades, mass protests, and strikes, COSATU promoted a militant struggle against apartheid. COSATU called on international workers to show solidarity through boycotts and pickets, which put economic pressure on companies doing business in South Africa. While divestment alone did not destroy the apartheid state, it demonstrated the interconnectedness of working-class struggles across the world.
Transcription:
We back So. African Unions, A.F.L.-C.I.O. I.B.T. I.L.W.U.; Reagan supports apartheid, A.F.L.-C.I.O. I.B.T. I.L.W.U., Big business and Reagan are wrong! A.F.L.-C.I.O. I.B.T. I.L.W.U.; Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC.
Date: May 23, 1985
Attribution: Photograph by Gordon Stone, 1985, Photographic Print Files of the Fang Family San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archive, BANC PIC 2006.029--B box 213, folder: South Africa, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.