Commercial, Stevedoring, Agriculture and Allied Workers Union

The union was started by farm workers themselves, as they experienced their right to organi se and join a union were denied them by their employers. Being farmworkers themselves, th e union founders have embodied knowledge of the context and issues they work with. This e nsures an ability to penetrate the highly oppressive structures of the farms and create identifi cation and trust with the workers that convinces them to organise in a very hostile environme nt, where workers are often harassed when joining a union. CSAAWU’s greatest strength lie s in this relationship to the communities, and their strong ability to mobilise and organise wor kers in ways that are sensitive to their needs and wants. Its leadership is elected from the m embership base and are, or have been, farmworkers themselves, which again ensures the cl ose connection between the union and the members. The leadership is the political and orga nisational leaders, and manage the daily duties through the general secretary. The unions m ain objectives is: 1. to build a strong workers' organisation in the Western Cape. 2. To establi sh a bargaining council for the agricultural sector in the Western Cape. 3. To establish a trad e union council with allied unions in the agricultural sector. 4. To build unity and solidarity am ong rural workers. 5. To improve working and living conditions for farm workers and farm dw ellers.