Taming the shop floor in South Africa

Alex Lichtenstein, professor of history at Indiana University, delivers a talk entitled, "Taming the Shop Floor in South Africa: Black Workers in the Struggle Against Apartheid, 1973 - 1985". Lichtenstein reflects on the history of labor struggles during Apartheid and ties them to a strike by miners in August of 2012 under the ANC government. He describes oppression and attempts to resolve the 1973 strikes and compares this with the ANC's brutal reaction to the current mine strike. Lichtenstein comments on white union member resistance to blacks joining unions and a move by the government to expand the "works committees" to control the blacks and temper their aspirations. A question and answer session follows. Lichtenstein is introduced by Michigan State University Professor John P. Beck. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations and the MSU Museum. Held at the MSU Museum.