Trade Unions in Tanzania - NUTA, JUWATA, and OTTU

NUTA, JUWATA, and OTTU

In 1962, there were a total of 182,000 workers organized in the trade unions of the newly independent Tanganyika and 152 strikes involving 48,434 workers forcing the state to react. The 1964 NUTA Act disbanded the TFL and established the National Union of Tanganyika Workers (NUTA) as the sole trade union in the country. This was the end of all labor autonomy in the country as the union's main function was to propagate the government's policies and the leadership of the NUTA was appointed by the country's president. As mentioned above, the situation in the early 1960s in Zanzibar, which had merged with Tanganyika to form Tanzania in 1964, was similar. As in mainland Tanzania, the government banned the existing trade unions, namely the ZPFL, and instituted the Federation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (FRTU) as the new union federation of Zanzibar. The FRTU was heavily involved in the government's dealings including the preparation of the new constitution. But in 1966, the FRTU was no longer needed. Thus, the government dissolved it and the Department of Labour, directed by the ASP, took over labor affairs, but it was dissolved as well as soon as 1968.

In 1977, the ruling parties of Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania, the TANU and the ASP merged to form Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). Likewise, the TANU-affiliated union, the only labor organization in the country, was restructured. The Union of Tanzanian Workers or Jumuiya ya Wafanyakazi Tanzania (JUWATA) was thus founded in the following year. It continued the NUTA's tradition of complete loyalty to the ruling party, but covered all of Tanzania, including Zanzibar, although the government of the region was reluctant to allow unionist activity to resume on the island.

Following an economic crisis in the early 1980s, growing pressure for trade union autonomy in conjunction with the country's transition to a multi-party system in 1990 led to the JUWATA's dissolution and the founding of the Organisation of Tanzania Trade Unions (OTTU) in 1992. The move was approved by the country's president and parliament. The main difference between the OTTU and the JUWATA was that the former consisted of sectoral unions and allowed the creation of eleven industrial unions. Moreover, the union's internal structure was more democratic than that of its predecessor. After the President broke a promise to raise salaries in the country in 1993, the OTTU conducted a successful strike from March 1 to 3 showing that the union was no longer controlled by the government. In January 1994, a strike by high school teachers led to massive government repression including the suspension of 318 teachers as well as to the creation of the Tanzania Teachers' Union.

In 1995, the eleven national unions decided to form the Federation of Free Trade Unions (TFTU). Bruno Mpangala was its Secretary General. The membership was approximately 348,000, but declined in the following years, mostly as a result of government staff reductions. Formally, the unions were still part of the OTTU and the TFTU did not have the power to negotiate with employers, this was done by the respective industrial unions.