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Zaire Organized Labor
The case for corporatism was strongest in the area of
labor
relations until 1991, when independent trade union
organizations
were officially recognized. The political pluralism of the
First
Republic had given labor unions freedom to maneuver among
the
various interest groups and parties. Trade unions
performed an
opposition role but were by no means united over what that
role
ought to be. Some were reformist, others more radical.
In 1967 the Mobutu government forced the unification of
the
country's fractious trade unions into a single
organization, the
National Union of Zairian Workers (Union Nationale des
Travailleurs
Zaïrois--UNTZA). Then the government brought UNTZA under
its
control, making clear that UNTZA was to be an instrument
of support
for the regime. Officially UNTZA was a specialized branch
of the
MPR, carrying out some syndicalist functions, such as
negotiating
contracts with various firms, but operating under the
supervision
of the MPR secretariat.
Resolutions of the 1978 UNTZA congress reveal a balance
between
political concerns and purely syndicalist ones. There was
a motion
of support for Mobutu. By contrast, several specific
resolutions
dealt with the interests of workers, such as control of
consumer
prices, equitable distribution of revenues and goods, and
representation of workers on the administrative councils
of public
enterprises. It is revealing, however, that all the
resolutions
were drafted in the MPR secretariat in the expectation
that they
would be adopted by UNTZA without significant debate.
Having a captive trade union federation did not spare
the
regime from labor strikes. What it meant was that any
strike was a
"wildcat" strike and had no official leaders with whom to
negotiate.
The clearest evidence that structural conflicts between
the
trade unions and the regime were being papered over came
early in
1990, when Mobutu called for a national dialogue.
Memoranda
prepared by various groups were not supposed to be
released to the
public, but Jeune Afrique claimed to have learned
that the
Kinshasa office of UNTZA was the author of a memo calling
for the
resignation of Mobutu.
Following Mobutu's April 24, 1990, announcement of the
end of
the one-party state, UNTZA lost its monopoly position and
with it
the right to the "check-off" or withholding of union dues
at
source. UNTZA remains the strongest trade union federation
but has
to contend with eleven other officially recognized unions,
some of
which represent Christian, liberal, or social democratic
tendencies
while others have grouped employees in particular trades
or
sectors. In the new, competitive environment--amid a
deteriorating
socioeconomic situation--strikes are even more common.
Indeed,
teachers, medical personnel, and other public-service
personnel are
frequently on strike because of low or nonexistent pay,
and the
lack of public services resulting from the strikes has
further
contributed to the deterioration of the economy and
society.
Data as of December 1993
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