Contradictions of Third-Worldist Trade Unionism: The Cases of Tunisia and Algeria

Abstract

This paper introduces “Third-Worldist trade unionism” as a historical-analytical category to interpret the evolution of postcolonial trade union centers after decolonization. Focusing on the Tunisian UGTT and the Algerian UGTA, it identifies recurring structural tensions affecting unions within nationalist and developmentalist regimes. It argues that these unions were shaped by three interrelated contradictions. First, they became increasingly subordinated to political power, as ruling parties incorporated union leaderships into state structures in the name of national development. Second, their representation of workers became conditional: while formally monopolizing labor representation, they often restrained strikes when demands conflicted with productivist priorities. Third, despite rhetorical commitments to Afro-Asian and Pan-African solidarity, they failed to build an autonomous internationalist practice, weakened by Cold War alignments and state rivalries. Through a comparative approach grounded in selected primary sources, the paper highlights union leaders’ agency and argues that their entanglement with postcolonial state-building limited both internal union democracy and transformative internationalism.