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THE ANGOLAN UNIONS IN EXILE (1961-9175) AND THE MAKING OF THE 
ANGOLAN WORKING CLASS – AN AFRICAN PATTERN? 
 
José Maciel Honrado Morais Santos, 
Porto University, Portugal 
 
The Portuguese colonial administration did not allow African workers to have their own 
unions until 1961. Under the colonial law, the huge majority of the Africans was considered 
―Native‖ and therefore excluded from Union register. European workers had their own - though 
politically controlled - 535 unions. In 1961, the same year the Native Status was revoked, rural 
and urban revolts occurred in the North of Angola. Repression by the army led that more than 
300.000 peasants of the Northern provinces and part of the nationalist leaderships flee towards 
the new independent Congo States(Leopoldville and Brazzaville). Along the 14 years of the 
colonial war, two mains processes were going on: - In Angola, an economic growth (yearly rate 
of around 15% between 1963-93) which caused a permanent tension in the demand of labour 
force. Angola‘s GDP became the 5th largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. This meant that Angolan 
workers could benefit from a better balance of forces in their disputes with capital. - While the 
Angola workers were still not given the right to organise their own unions, rivalry among 
nationalist movements their Congo exile resulted in the organization of several political parties 
and at least 5 Central Unions. So a fast-growing Angolan working class, endured by industrial 
conflicts but disposing of no formal organisations evolved side by side with exiled Union 
organization, patronised by political parties able only to register only Angolan refugees. Angola 
case seems thus to show once again the difficulties of the African workers to struggle with no 
real class organisations of their own. The history of its failed Unions can contribute to the old 
debate over what to expect from the spontaneous struggles of the rank-and-file workers. 
Moreover, it can also contribute to highlight some of the present struggles of the African 
working class to rebuild their own class movement under the debris of state and foreign capital 
control. 
Portugal Capital exports in colonial times induced the making of an African working 
class and later of African trade-unionism. From the 1940‘s to the 1970‘s the African trade-unions 
played a relevant role in fostering the growth and modernization of the African societies, in spite 
of an increasing governmental control and harassment for much of them. Yet, in the two 
following decades, the increase of public debts and the delocalization of capital fluxes blocked 
the power of the African labour organizations. In the mid-1990‘s the investment in Africa 
resumed. However, the correlation of forces in African labour markets was no longer favourable 

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to the Trade Unions. African working class used to represent less than 8% of the total population 
(except in SouthAfrica), which created a very tight labour demand that favoured the worker‘s 
claims. The breakdown of traditional rural society, the rapid urban development and the social 
deregulation reinforced by the weakness of the African states allowed for a growing informal 
sector. The result was an excessive supply of cheap wage labour. The collapse of government 
control over the unions also brought them, in several cases, a pervasive side effect by 
accelerating the Union splits. In spite of the OATUU efforts, until now Union pan-African and 
regional organisations have not been able to reverse the trend of decreasing social role for the 
Unions. How can African labour Trade Unions frame these new and large sectors of African 
societies in order to recover its lost power for industrial action? Will African labour be able to 
restore its political role and fulfil the vacuum left in many of the African civil societies? This 
panel proposal intends to present a general view of the main features of African trade unionism 
during the last 50 years. It is part of ongoing project of research on African labour and its 
organisations.