Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Prior to UDI in 1965 only all-white unions and African unions formed after 1959 were legally recognised in what was then Southern Rhodesia, and in addition these unions had to be skill-based rather than general. After 1965, repressive labour policies forced many unionists, including the leadership of the African Trades Union Congress (ATUC), into exile. Given government antipathy and splits within the labour movement, with some unionists advocating a less political stance and association with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) while others left to support the guerrilla war (1966-1980), trade unions remained weak until independence. Subsequently the ZANU-PF regime sought to control the workforce through the creation of a new confederation, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), designed to be compliant with government labour policy. The majority of the materials held here date from before 1980, and originate from both blue and white-collar and African and European unions.