Community Unionism in Africa: The Case of Mozambique

Abstract

<jats:p>Analysis of findings suggests that community unionism is vibrant within Mozambique. Trade union engagement with the main community organization representing the informal economy appears to be a key element of its revitalization strategy; both parties are benefiting from the relationship, and it appears to be sustainable. However, certain questions arise regarding its longer-term viability. Firstly, ASSOTSI represents those working illegally, while the OTM focuses on workers in formal employment. Secondly, OTM has a close relationship with the government due to its socialist past, yet ASSOTSI has a more tentative relationship with the government. Thirdly, ASSOTSI represents only African workers. Furthermore, senior figures in the OTM now seem to be re-considering the value of sustaining an affiliate model that includes all of the informal economy (including both owners and workers), and instead are contemplating setting up a union to represent informal sector workers.</jats:p><jats:p>This article draws on in-depth research to investigate how community unionism has been employed in Mozambique, an emerging economy in Africa. In doing so, it asks whether engagement with community organizations is characterized by a strategic or piecemeal approach, the degree to which there are mutual benefits for the trade union and the community organization, and whether the relationship is sustainable in the longer term.</jats:p><jats:p>Against the background of liberalization, privatization and financial crisis, unions face a declining number of core members. In emerging economies such as Mozambique, the formal sector now constitutes around eight percent of the working population, while around seventy-five per cent of the workforce is in the informal sector, with the remainder being unemployed. In many countries, unions have sought to engage these workers through “community unionism.”</jats:p>

Institutional legacies and HRM: similarities and differences in HRM practices in Portugal and Mozambique

“…A new tripartite negotiating forum, the Consultative Labour Commission, set a minimum wage, but enforcement of agreements was uneven or weak (Webster, Wood, & Brookes, 2006). Throughout all these changes, there were strong continuities in Mozambican work and employment relations, with divisions between larger firms (often either currently or previously state owned), SMEs, and a very large informal sector, with a legacy of authoritarian management (Dibben & Nadin, 2011;Webster & Wood, 2005;Wood et al, 2010).…”

“…HRM in Africa remains relatively under-researched (Ellis, Nyuur, & Debrah, 2015;Kamoche, Debrah, Horwitz, & Muuka, 2004;Wood & Brewster, 2007; see also Horwitz & Budhwar, 2015). There is a very little research on HRM in Mozambique (Dibben, 2010;Dibben & Nadin, 2011;Sartorius, Merino, & Carmichael, 2012), and more generally, there remains a paucity of empirical comparative analysis and longitudinal studies of past and contemporary HRM and employment relations between former colonial regimes and their independent state offspring. This paper adds to the limited body of research by comparing employment relations and HRM in Mozambique with the former colonial power, Portugal.…”

Is social movement unionism still relevant? The case of the South African federation COSATU

“…Finally, in acting as social movements, unions might engage with community organisations to seek broader aims of social justice (Dibben, 2004;Moody, 1997;Parker, 2011;Tarrow, 1998). There has been much debate about whether there should be fusion between unions and other institutions (Clawson, 2003;Hyman, 2004), more recently tackled within discussions of community unionism (Dibben and Nadin, 2011;Tattersall, 2009). Building links with other groups can result in a dilution of focus and a drain on limited resources (Gajewska and Niesyto, 2009;Munck, 2000).…”

The challenges and future of trade unionism in Algeria: a lost cause?

“…From its inception, the UGTA was deeply involved with the Nationalist Party and its mission. As in many other African countries (Dibben and Nadin, 2011;Fashoyin and Matanmi, 1996;Phelan, 2011), the trade union movement was at the forefront of the Algerian campaign against colonial domination (Branine, 2002). Algerian workers united under the national trade union to support the country's independence from the French, which was won in 1962.…”

“…Zack (1962) claims that industrial relations in African studies are an area of prime importance and much dynamism, but that they are at the same time further removed from the public eye than any other field. In the past, a number of researchers studied employment relations in Africa (see Buhlungu et al, 2008;Etukudo, 1995;Fashoyin and Matanmi, 1996;Goodman, 1969;Hagglund, 1994) and African countries, such as Mozambique (Dibben, 2010;Dibben and Nadin, 2011;Webster et al, 2006a;Webster et al, 2006b), Ghana (Gray, 1980), Kenya (Henley, 1978), Tanzania (Fischer, 2013) Swaziland (Simelane, 2008), Nigeria (Fajana, 2008), Zambia (Fashoyin, 2008), and Namibia (Klerck, 2008). In particular, a considerable body of literature has investigated employment relations and unions in South Africa (see Albertyn and Rycroft, 1995;Anstey, 1993;Buhlungu, 2009;Butcher and Rouse, 2001;Dibben et al, 2012;Hirschsohn, 1998Hirschsohn, , 2007Maller, 1994;Von Holdt, 2002;Von Holdt and Webster, 2008;Wood, 2002;Wood and Dibben, 2008;Wood and Glaister, 2008).…”