From: wsargeant@IGC.ORG (Winslow L. Sargeant)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS:West Africa, trade unions flex musc'
Date: 6 Apr 92 20:55:08 GMT

/* Written  9:08 am  Apr  6, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "WEST AFRICA: TRADE UNIONS FLEX MUSC" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: WEST AFRICA: TRADE UNIONS FLEX MUSCLES IN WAKE OF DEMOCRACY


an inter press service feature

by ruby ofori

accra, apr 3 (ips) -- the trade unions in west africa are
flexing their muscles following the upsurge of democracy
movements on the continent.

during a weeklong conference organised by the west african
transport workers federation mar. 30-apr. 3 here, leading
unionists from the west africa sub-region told ips of their
newly-won independence, and what they hoped to gain.

'''before independence african unions were relatively free.
after independence the new politicians refused workers their
rights,'' explains the secretary general of niger's union of
aviation workers.

''they put workers's leaders in jail, some were killed.
we lived in this situation for 30 years,'' adds moussa halidou.

nii ashitey, secretary general of the west african federation
of transport workers, says the french colonial principle of
assimilation and cooptation had weakened independent unionism in
the 10 countries which were formerly under french control.

''strike action was not easy in francophone countries where
unions have been part of the government and even funded by
government,'' says ashitey, who is ghanaian.

by contrast, in the english-speaking countries of the region
-- gambia, ghana, sierra leone and nigeria, tended to pride
themselves on a tradition of relatively independent trade
unions, he says.

one exception to this rule was english-speaking sierra leone
where, under the one-party system, union officials held
government posts.

even the labour congress leader held a parliamentary seat in
the one-party system. but his place in government was
''meaningless'' as far as workers were concerned, says alfred
conteh, secretary general of the sierra leone port workers
union.

conteh rejoices at the transformation of sierra leone's
military leader, joseph momoh, who has since last year changed
from an advocate of one-party rule to a liberal democrat.
(more/ips)


west africa: trade (2)

now, conteh believes one-party reform is assured, and
there will soon be a trade union congress meeting in sierra
leone.

''we're going to make a drastic change. we're going to make
a clean break. we want to change the leadership and make the
individual unions more powerful,'' conteh told ips.

segbeaya kossi, general secretary of the togo port workers
union, says organised labour in his country rose out of its
slumber under peculiar circumstances.

they were prompted by the public's reaction to the arrest of
two boys caught distributing political tracts.

the boys had been acting under the instructions of human rights
lawyers who planned ''a trap'' to expose the ''dictatorial''
character of president gnassingbe eyadema's 23-year rule, kossi
told ips.

on the day the boys were to be sentenced (oct. 5, 1990), lome
residents surged to the courthouse and freed them. it was the
beginning of a year of bloody struggle which led to the election
of a human rights lawyer, joseph koffigoh, to the premiership
and other openings for the democracy movement.

after oct. 5, new parties and independent newspapers have
sprung up and union leaders vowed never again to fall under the
sway of dictatorship.

economic collapse and political repression in niger led to
student demonstrations in february 1990. this, in turn, inspired
the independent trade union movement, recalls halidou.

from then on, trade unionists led the democracy movement,
demanding multiparty reforms and a national conference.

so powerful did they become in the process that union leaders
were appointed to the transitional government which is now
running the country until elections next year.

in all these countries, workers' expectations are high, many
want the fruits of their struggles now.

in both sierra leone and niger teachers only recently called
off strikes in support of pay demands. all these disputes ended
with workers acknowledging that the democracy process came first
and their industry needs could wait. (end/ips/ro/apc/ar/92)