The Food and Canning Workers Union Archive was deposited in the UCT Libraries by the Union in 1982. Researchers require written permission from the General Secretary or any national office bearer of the Union, before being allowed to consult the Archive. The Archive comprises the official records of the Union dating from the 1940s (the Food, Canning and Allied Workers Union (Cape) was formed on 6 February 1941) to 1986, when the FCWU amalgamated with the Sweet Food and Allied Workers Union to form the Food and Allied Workers Union. The records include annual reports; minutes of meetings and conferences; correspondence between head office and branches, with the Divisional Inspector of Labour, the Conciliation Board, the Wage Board and the Department of Manpower. There are de­tailed records regarding wage and recognition agreements, strikes, disputes and wage negotiations with individual firms. There is also a certain amount of information on organisations such as SACTU, SATLC, SATUC and COSATU. The records of the African Food and Canning Workers Union are not as complete as those of the FCWU. It was originally one union until 1947 when the union was forced by state pressure to form a racially separate union. In 1985 the two unions were formally united once more. The records of the FCWU enable researchers to obtain detailed in­formation about the lives of ordinary workers in various food canning, packaging and processing industries, and their struggle for a living wage, housing, medical and other benefits. Reference: Goode, R. For a better life: the Food and Canning Workers' Union, 1941-75. UCT Centre for African Studies. Africa Seminar, 31.8.1983