Max Gordon

Max Gordon (1 April 1910 – 10 May 1977) was a South African trade union leader and Trotskyist activist.

Born in Cape Town as Max Livetsky, his father died when he was young. He was adopted, and his surname was changed to "Gordon". He studied at the University of Cape Town, and while there joined the Workers Party of South Africa, a Trotskyist organisation.

In 1935, Gordon relocated to Johannesburg to work as an industrial chemist. He also became the leader of the African Laundry Workers' Union. The union was nearly defunct, and although he was initially able to revive it, an unofficial strike the following year proved a major setback. Gordon decided to work with the registered trade unions to improve the position of black workers, and was able increase minimum wages in several industries, and win back-pay for many workers. The South African Institute for Race Relations began to support his work, and from 1938 the Bantu Welfare Trust paid him a wage, enabling him to work full time as a trade union organiser. Later in life, Gordon returned to Cape Town, where he worked for Gerber Goldschmidt.