The African Trade Union Congress (ATUC) was a national trade union centre in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(later Zimbabwe). The ATUC represented black African workers, and was opposed to the system of white minority rule in Rhodesia. 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 new union was led by Josiah Maluleke, former Secretary-General of the SRTUC. The SRATUC absorbed the older organisation a year later in 1963, with the combined body adopting the name African Trade Union Congress. Following the split in the African nationalist movement in 1963, which led to the separation of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), the ATUC became aligned with ZANU. The ATUC was affiliated with the

African Trade Union Confederation African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

. 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). The largest single affiliated union was the

Railway African Workers' Union The Railway African Workers' Union (R.A.W.U.) was a trade union in Rhodesia which represented black African railway workers employed by the Rhodesian Railways. History The RAWU was formed through the merger of the Northern Rhodesian African Ra ...

(RAWU), which had approximately 16,000 members. In 1981 ATUC merged into the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

References

National federations of trade unions Trade unions in Zimbabwe History of Zimbabwe Trade unions established in 1962 Trade unions disestablished in 1981 {{Africa-trade-union-stub