Confédération africaine des travailleurs croyants (French West Africa and Togo)
The Confédération africaine des travailleurs croyants ('African Confederation of Believing Workers', abbreviated C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo) was a trade union confederation in French West Africa and Togo. C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo was founded in Ouagadougou July 8–15, 1956 by the West African branches of the French trade union centre C.F.T.C. David Soumah became the first president of C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo.Meynaud, Jean, and Anisse Salah Bey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7c8OAAAAQAAJ Trade Unionism in Africa]. Lond: Methuen, 1967. pp. 59-60, 166
Profile
When adopting the name of the new, autonomous organization the word 'Christians' (used in the C.F.T.C name) was changed into the 'Believers', seeking to accommodate Muslim workers.Wallerstein, Immanuel Maurice. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fC5j0tI-Pv0C&pg=RA1-PA182 Africa: The Politics of Independence and Unity]. Lincoln, Neb. [u.a]: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2005. p. 182 However, C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo continued to be funded by the Catholic Church and became an affiliate of the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions.Kabeya Muase, Charles. [https://books.google.com/books?id=D9jWtRmtoNAC&pg=PA44 Syndicalisme et démocratie en Afrique noire: l'expérience du Burkina Faso, 1936-1988]. Abidjan: Inadès édition, 1988. p. 44Schmidt, Elizabeth. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7gnvgKsw2LoC&pg=PA117 Cold War and Decolonization in Guinea, 1946-1958]. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2007. p. 117
Organization
C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo had its headquarters in Dakar. The movement had its main strongholds in Togo, Dahomey and Upper Volta.Kabeya Muase, Charles. [https://books.google.com/books?id=D9jWtRmtoNAC&pg=PA9 Syndicalisme et démocratie en Afrique noire: l'expérience du Burkina Faso, 1936-1988]. Abidjan: Inadès édition, 1988. p. 9 C.A.T.C. was the dominant union movement in Upper Volta.Kabeya Muase, Charles. [https://books.google.com/books?id=D9jWtRmtoNAC&pg=PA228 Syndicalisme et démocratie en Afrique noire: l'expérience du Burkina Faso, 1936-1988]. Abidjan: Inadès édition, 1988. p. 228 Joseph Ouédraogo was the leader of the C.A.T.C branch in Upper Volta. Maurice Yaméogo, who later became the president of Upper Volta, had been active in C.A.T.C.Kabeya Muase, Charles. [https://books.google.com/books?id=D9jWtRmtoNAC&pg=PA71 Syndicalisme et démocratie en Afrique noire: l'expérience du Burkina Faso, 1936-1988]. Abidjan: Inadès édition, 1988. p. 71
Relations with U.G.T.A.N
C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo participated in the conference held in Cotonou on January 16, 1957, which founded the U.G.T.A.N trade union centre. C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo abstained from participating in the election to the provisional executive of U.G.T.A.N, claiming that they wished to confer with their member organizations on affiliation to the new pan-African organization. In the end C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo remained outside of U.G.T.A.N, as they wished to maintain their profile as a non-political union organization.Meynaud, Jean, and Anisse Salah Bey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7c8OAAAAQAAJ Trade Unionism in Africa]. Lond: Methuen, 1967. p. 60-61 Whilst U.G.T.A.N became the dominant force in the Francophone West African labour movement, with around 90% of the organized unions affiliated to it, C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo organized the majority of the non-U.G.T.A.N unions.
U.P.T.C
In January 1959, C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo participated in the founding of a new regional organization, Union panafricaine des travailleurs croyants (U.P.T.C), chaired by the Congolese Gilbert Pongault.Kabeya Muase, Charles. [https://books.google.com/books?id=D9jWtRmtoNAC&pg=PA50 Syndicalisme et démocratie en Afrique noire: l'expérience du Burkina Faso, 1936-1988]. Abidjan: Inadès édition, 1988. p. 50 The C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo branches in French Soudan, Mauritania, Niger, Togo, Dahomey and Upper Volta became affiliated to U.P.T.C.Meynaud, Jean, and Anisse Salah Bey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7c8OAAAAQAAJ Trade Unionism in Africa]. Lond: Methuen, 1967. p. 164
Legacy
The Ivorian branch of C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo had separated from the regional organization, and became the Centre national des travailleurs croyants de Côte d'Ivoire.Contamin, Bernard, and Harris Memel-Fotê. [https://books.google.com/books?id=a9G-Z4XnVh8C&pg=PA560 Le modèle ivoirien en questions: crises, ajustements, recompositions]. Paris: Editions Karthala, 1997. p. 560-561 The former regional branch of C.A.T.C-A.O.F-Togo in Dahomey was dissolved on November 17, 1962, as the Dahomeyan government had opted for a one-party system.Meynaud, Jean, and Anisse Salah Bey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7c8OAAAAQAAJ Trade Unionism in Africa]. Lond: Methuen, 1967. p. 168 C.A.T.C-Togo later assumed the name Confédération togolaise des travailleurs croyants.United States. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BnJBAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA119 Labor Digests on Countries in Africa]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1966. p. 119 The Upper Volta C.A.T.C would later become the Confédération nationale des travailleurs du Burkina.Kabeya Muase, Charles. [https://books.google.com/books?id=D9jWtRmtoNAC&pg=PA55 Syndicalisme et démocratie en Afrique noire: l'expérience du Burkina Faso, 1936-1988]. Abidjan: Inadès édition, 1988. p. 55
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Confederation africaine des travailleurs croyants (French West Africa and Togo)}}
Category:Defunct trade unions of Africa
Category:1956 establishments in French West Africa
Category:World Confederation of Labour
Category:1956 establishments in French Togoland