The plight of workers at the Kwa-Zulu Shoe Company at Loskop in Natal has roused the anger of unions worldwide.
Two new agreements signed by FOSATU unions give special recognition to the rights of women.
In the largest pay out in a labour dispute in South Africa, workers at Braitex, a Transvaal textile factory, were given R40 000.
John Copelyn, the acting general secretary of the National Union of Textile Workers, has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the International Textile Garment and Leather Worker's Federation.
