Trade unionists

Ron Todd was the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, 1985–92, and Chair of the TUC International Committee. He visited South Africa on a trade union mission in 1986, and was a strong supporter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the independent trade union movement in South Africa.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out by Christabel Gurney in 2004.

Ron Todd was the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, 1985–92, and Chair of the TUC International Committee. He visited South Africa on a trade union mission in 1986, and was a strong supporter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the independent trade union movement in South Africa.

In this clip he talks about his visit with Norman Willis to Alexandra township, Johannesburg, in 1986.

Mike Sparham represented the civil service union NUCPS on the Anti-Apartheid Movement trade union committee from the mid-1980s and served as its Chair from 1990 to 1994. He was later the Chair of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the Forward to Freedom history project in 2013.

Mike Sparham represented the civil service union NUCPS on the Anti-Apartheid Movement trade union committee from the mid-1980s and served as its Chair from 1990 to 1994. He was later the Chair of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).

In this clip Mike Sparham describes the composition and role of the AAM trade union committee.

Mike Sparham represented the civil service union NUCPS on the Anti-Apartheid Movement trade union committee from the mid-1980s and served as its Chair from 1990 to 1994. He was later the Chair of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).

In this clip Mike Sparham reflects how the role of the AAM trade union committee changed after 1990 and describes how British trade unions gave direct support to independent unions in South Africa.

Mike Gerrard joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the early 1960s and was a member of its Executive Committee.

In this clip Mike Gerrard describes the attitude of the British labour movement to the decision by the Southern African liberation movements to take up armed struggle.

Colin Adkins was a student activist at the University of Essex, where he joined the university Anti-Apartheid Society and was later elected as President of the Student Union. He was the Anti-Apartheid Movement’s trade union and labour movement organiser from 1987 to 1990. He later worked as an organiser for trade unions including Unite and the education union NASUWT.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of a research project on the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and South Africa’s transition to majority rule, conducted by Dr Matt Graham (History programme, University of Dundee) and Dr Christopher Fevre (International Studies Group, University of the Free State). See https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2021.1976154

Simon Sapper grew up in London in a household that boycotted South African goods, and from an early age he was aware of the anti-apartheid struggle. On leaving university in 1984 he joined the staff of the Anti-Apartheid Movement as a campaigns organiser, with special responsibility for trade unions and political parties. He played a central role in organising the AAM demonstration calling for sanctions against South Africa in November 1985 and the Festival for Freedom in June 1986. In November 1986 he left to work for the Institution of Professional Civil Servants.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of a research project on the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and South Africa’s transition to majority rule, conducted by Dr Matt Graham (History programme, University of Dundee) and Dr Christopher Fevre (International Studies Group, University of the Free State). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2021.1976154