Baba Aye's

Introduction Trades unions have become key components of most modern societies be such societies democratic or totalitarian, advanced capitalist or backward post-colonial. The nature of trade unions and trade unionisms are however quite different, even in otherwise similar societies. The United Kingdom and the United States for example could be considered as similar as societies could be (being the leading “liberal market economies” in the world), but they have quite different types of trade unions and approaches to trades unionism. Similarly France and Germany, two leading “coordinated market economies” in the West, have clearly different trades unions’ characteristics. Coming closer home; on one hand there are distinct traits that mark the industrial relations systems and trade union practice as heritages of our colonial past i.e. along English-speaking and French-speaking Africa lines. On the other hand, there are specific features of trade unionism and trades unions even in the cl...

Introduction The 1st trilateral conference of Ghana TUC, Nigeria Labour Congress and Congress of South African Trade Unions held on May 4-6, 2010 at Accra, Ghana. The Conference arises as a response to the multifarious challenges confronting African working people in general and the working class in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, particularly. The Conference had evolved as an idea over the past six years based on the need to forge greater trade union unity across the African continent in the spirit of international working class solidarity. The persistent and continued underdevelopment of Africa and the pauperisation of its working people are traceable to the characteristic inequalities fostered by the capitalist mode of production, particularly in its neoliberal incarnation. The force socially positioned to checkmate and change this situation, being the working class; the need for the working class movement of our three countries to forge ever greater unity and solidarity, in th...

Introduction It gives me great pleasure to be asked to make this presentation. This is because on one hand, organization is at the heart of union building and should be considered crucial by any one in a trade union who appreciates the importance of Ralph Chaplin’s “solidarity forever” in its assertion that “the union makes us strong”. Organizing is at the root of that strength that the union gives. On the other hand, this is the fist time I will be taking a particular union’s secretaries/organizers, apart from my union MHWUN, on a course in organizing. I have had the privilege of being responsible as lead-facilitator of the NLC Harmattan School’s Organizers Course over the years and for taking the “trade union organizing” course in the NLC/Unijos Labour Law and Labour Relations Certificate course before proceeding for further studies two years back. I have also taken several unions (on the PSI platform) and specific unions on trade union issues in general. The specific context of toda...