In 1924, the Industrial Conciliation Act was enacted by the South African Parliament. This legislation aimed to address industrial disputes by establishing negotiation mechanisms. Here are the key provisions:

1. Trade Unions: Employees were permitted to form trade unions. These unions would undergo approval, recognition, and registration processes.
2. Industrial Councils: Trade unions could then be represented on industrial councils.
3. Conciliation Process: Before a strike could occur, a process of conciliation was mandated.
4. Exclusion of Black Workers: Unfortunately, workers “regulated by any Native Pass Laws and regulations” (which primarily referred to Black workers) were excluded from the definition of workers. Consequently, they were not allowed to join unions¹.

This act significantly impacted the rights and representation of workers in South Africa during that era. It’s essential to recognize the historical context and the discriminatory practices that shaped labor relations at the time.

For more detailed information, you can refer to the work by Kiloh and Sibeko titled “A Fighting Union” ¹. Although this legislation has been repealed, its legacy remains a part of South Africa’s complex history.

Source: BingAI

1513 – Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.

1525 – Albert von Brandenburg, the leader of the Teutonic Order, assumes the title “Duke of Prussia” and passed the first laws of the Protestant church, making Prussia a Protestant state.

1789 – The U.S. House of Representatives held its first meeting.

1832 – About 300 American troops of the 6th Infantry left Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, to confront the Sauk Indians in the Black Hawk War.

1834 – In New York City, Cornelius Lawrence became the first mayor to be elected by popular vote in a city election.

1839 – The first Intercollegiate Rodeo was held at the Godshall Ranch, Apple Valley, CA.

1864 – The U.S. Senate passed the 13th Amendment (S.J. Res. 16) by a vote of 38 to 6.

1873 – Alfred Paraf patented the first successful oleomargarine.

1911 – The first squash tournament was played at the Harvard Club in New York City.

1913 – The Seventeenth amendment was ratified, requiring direct  election of senators.

1935 – The Works Progress Administration was approved by the U.S. Congress.

1939 – Italy invaded Albania.

1942 – The Soviets opened a rail link to the besieged city of Leningrad.

1943 – Wendell Wilkie’s “One World” was published for the first time.

1946 – The League of Nations assembled in Geneva for the last time.

1947 – The first illustrated insurance policy was issued by the Allstate Insurance Company.

1952 – U.S. President Truman seized steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.

1953 – The bones of Sitting Bull were moved from North Dakota to South Dakota.

1962 – Bay of Pigs invaders got thirty years imprisonment in Cuba.

1974 – Hank Aaron hits 715th home run breaking Babe Ruth’s record.

1975 – Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians became first black manager of a major league baseball team.

1985 – India filed suit against Union Carbide for the Bhopal disaster.

1985 – Phyllis Diller underwent a surgical procedure for permanent eyeliner to eliminate the need for eyelid makeup.

1986 – Clint Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, CA.

1987 – Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigned over remarks he had made. While on ABC’s “Nightline” Campanis said that blacks “may not have some of the necessities” to hold managerial jobs in major-league baseball.

1988 – Former U.S. President Reagan aid Lyn Nofzinger was sentenced to prison for illegal lobbying for Wedtech Corp.

1990 – In Nepal, King Birendra lifted the 30-year ban on political parties.

1992 – In Britain, the last issue of “Punch Magazine” was published.

1994 – Smoking was banned in the Pentagon and all U.S. military bases.

1998 – The widow of Martin Luther King Jr. presented new evidence in an appeal for new federal investigation of the assassination of her husband.

2000 – 19 U.S. troops were killed when a Marine V22 Osprey crashed during a training mission in Arizona.

2001 – Microsoft Corp. released Internet Explorer 6.0.

2002 – Ed McMahon filed a $20 million lawsuit against his insurance company, two insurance adjusters, and several environmental cleanup contractors. The suit alleged breach of contract, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress concerning a toxic mold that had spread through McMahon’s Beverly Hills home.

2002 – Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama for her play “Topdog/Underdog.”

Written By: Brian Duignan

Seventeenth Amendment, amendment (1913) to the Constitution of the United States that provided for the direct election of U.S. senators by the voters of the states.

It altered the electoral mechanism established in Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, which had provided for the appointment of senators by the state legislatures.

Adopted in the Progressive era of democratic political reform, the amendment reflected popular dissatisfaction with the corruption and inefficiency that had come to characterize the legislative election of U.S. senators in many states.

The amendment changed the wording of Article I, Section 3, Paragraph 1 to state that “two Senators from each State” should be “elected by the people thereof” rather than “chosen by the Legislature thereof.” It also revised Paragraph 2 of Section 3 to allow the state executive to fill vacancies in the Senate by making temporary appointments to serve until new elections could be held.

The full text of the amendment is

• The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
• When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
• This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

By the time of the amendment’s adoption, many states had already established mechanisms that effectively allowed voters to choose the senators of their state (e.g., by having the legislature appoint the winners of party primaries). Nevertheless, the amendment was widely seen as necessary to reduce the influence of big business and other special interests on the selection of senators and to prevent vacancies or frequent turnover in the Senate caused by party wrangling or changes of party leadership at the state level. In the late 20th century some conservative political scholars called for the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment on the grounds that it undermined the proper balance of power between the federal government and the states (see also states’ rights).