ABSTRACT
The Tunisian labor movement took root at the start of the 20th century. The movement continued to develop in reaction to capitalist colonial exploitation and the arrival of foreign workers and union organizations that predated the formation of the Tunisian working class. Soon after the UGTT was founded, in 1946, the union found itself at the forefront of the struggle for national liberation in a leading role cemented by its unconventional alliance with Neo-Destour. After Tunisia gained its independence, on March 20, 1956, the UGTT, Neo-Destour, Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts and the National Union of Tunisian Farmers formed a "national front" that ran in the 1956 constituent assembly elections and the 1959 parliamentary elections. Tunisia changed course after a decade of cooperatives, establishing a free-market economic regime open to the outside world and foreign investment. From the outset, the Tunisian union movement charted a unique path that set it apart from unionism elsewhere in the Arab world.
