African Trade Union Congress

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

ATUC
African Trade Union Congress
Merged into
African Trade Union Confederation

The African Trade Union Congress (ATUC) was a

national trade union centre in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe).[1] The ATUC represented black African workers, and was opposed to the system of white minority rule in Rhodesia.[2]

The ATUC was formed in 1962 as the Southern Rhodesian African Trade Union Congress (SRATUC), a breakaway from the more moderate Southern Rhodesian Trade Union Congress (SRTUC).

The ATUC was reported to have nine affiliated unions during the mid-1960s, with a total membership of 29,198 (36% of all trade union members in the country).[4] The largest single affiliated union was the Railway African Workers' Union (RAWU), which had approximately 16,000 members.[4]

In 1981 ATUC merged into the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.[6]

We as a trade union are fully prepared to throw our weight behind the nationalist party's fight - after all, we all want to get rid of the present minority government, but we want to do so as workers, with our own organisation. For after independence the party will be the government and will be as much concerned as any government to increase production to develop the country. This may happen at the expense of the workers' wages and general standard of living. Then we want our own organisation to defend our position and our rights; if we, then are merely an arm of the party we as workers will be defenceless.

— Josiah Maluleke, The Political Role of Unions in Rhodesia

References

  1. ^ a b Mlambo, E. E. M. (1971). "Labour Law and the Worker". Rhodesia: The British Dilemma. London: International Defence and Aid Fund. p. 17.
  2. ^ a b C. M. Brand. "The Political Role of Unions in Rhodesia" (PDF). University of Rhodesia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  3. . Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Labor Conditions in Southern Rhodesia". Labor Digests on Countries in Africa. United States Department of Labor. 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  5. ^ . Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  6. .