Liz Abrahams (19 September 1925 – 17 December 2009) was a trade unionist and activist involved in the struggle against Apartheid. She was born to a working-class coloured family in Paarl. At 14 her father died and she left school to go to work. She became involved in the Food and Canning Workers Union, eventually becoming its General Secretary in 1956. She was later banned by the Apartheid government, and was forced to live under house arrest. When South Africa became a democracy she served as a Member of the first representative Parliament. She died in 2008.

The extract that follows is from Abrahams’ memoir, Married to the Struggle. It describes her youth and political awakening in trade unions in the years before Apartheid. She started out as a seasonal worker on fruit farms for the canning factories; the conditions were harsh and there were no protections for vulnerable workers. As a poor, coloured, farm and factory labourer, Abrahams’ story captures an important part of the way South Africa’s economy and society has been made.

During the World War Two years (1939–1945) the union grew and won some victories for workers. These gains were rolled back under Apartheid as the government cracked down on black and multiracial trade unions.