ABSTRACT

This chapter assesses action that the trade union movement has undertaken in the democratisation process. The African trade union movement developed slowly as a result of hostile colonial legislation and a numerically small proletariat. The way that trade unions were inextricably bound to single political parties through a process of incorporation is just one aspect of African trade union history. Union members in some countries work in strategic sectors of the economy, and have therefore been able to bring a substantial proportion of economic and social activity to its knees. Another factor that explains the influence of the trade union movement is that, unlike other social groups that operate predominantly in capital cities, unions are frequently established the length and breadth of the country. Trade union action aimed at achieving democracy goes back to a time before the 1980s. Independent unions were in the vanguard of the struggle for democracy in other countries, too.