Trade union cooperation

Societies across African countries are facing far-reaching social, economic and political transformations. In light of the changing world of work, demographic trends, increasing urbanisation and digitalisation, the impacts of the climate crisis, the ever-growing power of multinational corporations, and complex regional and global value chains, there is a risk that social inequalities will deepen further in many countries. Around 85 per cent of Africans work without a fixed income or social security; young people and women are particularly affected.

As is the case worldwide, trade unions in Africa are under pressure. Yet a strong trade union movement is crucial to ensuring that these processes of transformation are more just, inclusive, peaceful and democratic. With an average unionisation rate of ten per cent, there is room for improvement, and African trade unions undoubtedly face numerous internal and external challenges. Nevertheless, trade unions are the strongest force for the vulnerable: with a long history as allies of liberation movements, political influence that continues to this day, and the greatest mobilisation potential of any civil society organisation.

The FES’s advisory work for and with trade unions, as well as its efforts to strengthen trade unions’ capacity, aim to achieve greater justice and social dialogue – with a particular focus on gender equality – to enhance its partners’ strategic capabilities, and to expand workers’ rights and trade union freedoms. Where conditions permit, the FES cooperates in the project countries with sectoral trade unions, umbrella organisations or trade union-affiliated research institutes. Strategic alliances between trade unions and civil society are of great importance, for example with the climate movement for a ‘just transition’, with feminist activists or with organisations in the informal sector.

National trade union cooperation is complemented by the FES Trade Union Competence Centre (TUCC), founded in 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The TUCC promotes transnational networking, maintains close ties with the global trade union federations and the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa), and focuses on socio-ecological transformation, the debt crisis and the implementation of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act to strengthen labour rights along global value chains.

In addition, the TUCC supports the integration of workers from the platform economy and the informal sectors into trade unions.

Further information on the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s international trade union work can be found on our thematic portal on international trade union policy. For more information on trade union work in sub-Saharan Africa, please visit the websites of the country-specific projects. Our trade union monitors provide an insight into the situation of trade unions in various countries.