Cosatu said it supported the Proudly SA campaign since encouraging South Africans to buy local products translated into more jobs for more people.
The trade union federation said it was therefore concerned that some businesses and state agencies were writing tenders in a way that deliberately excluded South African companies.
"Several recent tenders contained conditions which effectively excluded local manufacturers from tendering," Cosatu said in a statement issued at the end of a two-day workshop in Johannesburg with Proudly SA.
"These included, for example, specifying only specific non-locally made products or requiring companies to have a global market share beyond the reach of South African countries.
"In the interests of encouraging and developing a local IT manufacturing industry, Cosatu and Proudly SA will jointly continue to campaign against these restrictive practices and for these specific tenders to be changed."
One of the tenders mentioned was put out by the Independent Electoral Commission for new IT infrastructure and worth R50 million.
Others involved the Ekhuruleni and Tshwane municipalities.
Proudly SA chief executive Martin Feinstein said the campaign was not "anti-import" or against international brands competing in South Africa.
"But we want to level the playing field. These tenders violate the rules of fair competition. It puts a padlock on the gate leading to the playing field."
Journalist Tim Modise, Proudly SA's chairman, said the campaign was still "relatively new" and it was possible that some agencies did not understand what it was about.
"We would like to see international tenderers winning bids based here," he said. They should manufacture here and create jobs here," Modise said.
"It is not correct for SA tax money to be exported to create jobs elsewhere... For local bidders to be forced out of a tender is grossly unfair. If we do not grow our companies we will not create jobs here." - Sapa
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