Trade unions in
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
were historically important - having played a pivotal role in the country's independence movement - and in recent years have again assumed a leading role.
History
Colonial period
In 1945,
Sekou Toure
Sekou, also spelled Sékou or Seku, is a given name from the Fula language. It is equivalent to the Arabic ''Sheikh''. People with this name include:
People
* Sekou (singer), British singer
Given name
* Seku Amadu (1776–1845), also known as Sà ...
(later Guinea's first president) founded the first union in Guinea, organizing postal (
PTT) workers, and then in 1946, the Territorial Union of Guinean Trade Unions (''Union Territoriale des Syndicats de Guinée'', UTSG).
Sekou Touré and Seydou Diallo (also of Guinea) were among the leaders in the creation of the French West African
Confédération générale des travailleurs africains
The ''Confédération générale des travailleurs africains'' ('General Confederation of African Workers', CGTA) was a trade union centre in French West Africa, in existence from 1956 to 1957.
History
A leader of the France, French General Confe ...
('General Confederation of African Workers', CGTA) separate from the French union,
Confédération Générale du Travail
The General Confederation of Labour (, , CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.
It is the largest in terms of votes in the Labour C ...
(CGT) in 1955-6.
[Agyeman, Opoku. ]
The Failure of Grassroots Pan-Africanism: The Case of the All-African Trade Union Federation
'. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2003. pp. 98-99
Following independence
Trade unions were outlawed in 1961, following a teachers' strike, and legalized again in the 1990s.
International Crisis Group, "Guinea in Transition" Policy Briefing: Africa Briefing N°37, Dakar/Brussels, 11 April 2006. p.3
In 2006, the unions (together) successfully organized strikes in Conakry
Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973.
The current population of C ...
, and in early 2007 led nationwide strikes that provoked a harsh government crackdown which resulted in over 100 fatalities.
In October 2009, following shooting and other violence against a political rally
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources.
The branch of social science that studies poli ...
in Conakry, the unions organized a successful two-day strike.
List
National centres
* Confédération Nationale des Travailleurs de Guinée (CNTG)
* Union syndicale des travailleurs de Guinée (USTG)
* Confédération Syndicale Autonome des Travailleurs et Retraités de Guinée (COSATREG)
* Confédération Générale des Travailleurs de Guinée (CGTG)
* Confédération Guinéenne des Syndicats Libres(CGSL)
* Union Démocratique des Travailleurs de Guinée (UDTG)
* Union Générale des Travailleurs de Guinée (UGTG)
* Confédération Générale des Forces Ouvrières de Guinée (CGFOG)
* Confédération Nationale des Syndicats Indépendants de Guinée (CONASIG)
* Union Nationale des Travailleurs de Guinée (UNTG)
* National Organization of Free Unions of Guinea(ONSLG)
* Syndicats des Pharmaciens d’Officines Privées de Guinées (SYPHOG)
Trade unions
* Syndicat des Acteurs de la Monnaie Électronique de Guinée (SAMEL-G)
Historical
* Confédération générale des travailleurs africains (CGTA)
References
{{Trade unions in Guinea navbox