Trade unions in Angola
{{short description|none}}
{{Infobox Union by Country
|country = Angola
|government =
|legislation = Article 33, Constitution{{cite web
| title=Article 33
| work=The Constitution of Angola
| url=http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/CAFRAD/UNPAN002502.pdf
| accessdate=2007-05-18
}}
|membership_number =
|union_percentage1_title =
|union_percentage1 =
|union_percentage2_title =
|union_percentage2 =
|ITUC-GRI = 4
|ILOmember = Yes
|ILO-87date = 13 June 2001
|ILO-98date = 4 June 1976
}}
Before 1975, while under Portuguese rule, Trade unions in Angola existed primarily as "occupational syndicates" - operating welfare services, but banned from collective bargaining and strike action.{{cite book
| year = 2005
| title = Trade Unions of the World
| editor = ICTUR
| editor-link = International Centre for Trade Union Rights
| edition = 6th
| publisher = John Harper Publishing
| location = London, UK
| isbn = 0-9543811-5-7
|display-editors=etal}} Independent African trade unions were illegal, however, some underground or exiled unions existed, and were involved in the struggle for Angolan independence.
When the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) came to power in 1975 the National Union of Angolan Workers (UNTA) became the sole national trade union centre. There is now an independent trade union centre as well, the General Centre of Independent and Free Unions of Angola.
Trade union membership in Angola is limited both by the small formal economy, and the high unemployment rate within the sector. The Government of Angola is the largest employer within the country, and wages within the government are set yearly, with consultation from unions, but without direct negotiations.