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Sudan
Unions
Trade union activity was banned by the Bashir government following
its rise to power in the 1989 coup, and many union officials were
imprisoned. Prior to 1989, the trade unions that were active were
nevertheless under state control, most having been established
in their latest incarnation by the government in 1971. The labor
union movement originated in 1946 with the formation by some Sudan
Railways employees of the Workers' Affairs Association, the predecessor
of the SRWU. Two years later the Trades and Tradesmen's Union
Ordinance of 1948, which was based largely on the British model
and the concepts of voluntary association and limited government
intervention in union affairs, gave official sanction to unions.
The 1948 ordinance permitted formation of unions by as few as
ten individuals, and a proliferation of mostly small, ineffective
bodies emerged. The major exception was the rail union, which,
as an official body, became Sudan's wealthiest and most powerful
union. In 1949 the workers' association helped form the national
Workers' Congress, which in 1950 became the Sudan Workers Trade
Unions Federation (SWTUF). Dominated by communists, the SWTUF
was closely associated with the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP).
The SWTUF failed to receive government recognition, and its interests
and actions tended strongly to be along political lines. After
national independence, the federation had frequent confrontations
with the new government, including a successful general strike
in October 1958. This strike was one of the factors that contributed
to the military takeover of the government the following month
(see The Abbud Military Government, 1958-64 , ch. 1).
At the time of the 1958 coup, the SWTUF controlled roughly 70
percent of all labor union membership. The new military government
repealed the 1948 ordinance, dissolved all unions, and detained
many of the federation's leaders. Some union organization was
again permitted after 1960 but it was prohibited for white-collar
workers, and federations were not allowed. Upon restoration of
the civilian government in 1964, the 1948 ordinance was reinstated,
and the SWTUF reemerged. Union membership increased rapidly and
had risen to about 250,000 workers in about 500 to 600 unions
by 1970. Most were small (three-quarters had fewer than 200 members),
financially weak, and generally not very effective. The few larger
unions were in the public sector, led by the SRWU.
SWTUF leadership remained in communist hands. The SCP was allied
with the group that carried out the military coup of May 1969,
and the SWTUF and the unions were welcomed as partners in the
proclaimed socialist struggle to better the conditions of the
workers. Strikes, however, were prohibited by a presidential order
issued shortly after the 1969 takeover. The relationship was abruptly
ended after the abortive communist coup in mid-1971. The government
dissolved the SWTUF and executed a number of its leaders.
Late in 1971 the government promulgated the Trade Unions Act,
under which directives were issued in 1973 that established eighty-seven
unions based on sectoral, occupational, and industrial lines.
Somewhat more than half were "employees'" unions (for white-collar
employees), and the rest were "workers'" unions (for blue-collar
workers). The existing unions were variously merged into the specified
groupings. The act contained measures to strengthen unionism,
including a provision for compulsory dues and employer-paid time
off to serve as union officials. The SWTUF was reinstituted for
the "workers'" unions, and the Sudanese Federation of Employees
and Professionals Trade Unions formed in 1975 for the white-collar
group. Their representation of union interests was carried on
within guidelines set by the government and the Sudan Socialist
Union (SSU), the mass political party established by the government
in 1972. In the late 1970s, they led strikes, which, although
illegal, resulted in settlement of issues through negotiations
with the government. The last major attempt by organized labor
to strike occurred in June 1981, but the strike by the Sudan Railways
Workers' Union was broken by the Nimeiri government, which arrested
its leaders.
Prior to 1989, the SWTUF, in its weakened state, included forty-two
trade unions, representing more than 1.7 million workers in the
public and private sectors. The federation was affiliated with
the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions and the Organization
of African Trade Union Unity.
Data as of June 1991
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