The purpose of the article is to analyze the position of the trade union movement in Mozambique in the face of privatizations in that southern African country in the 1990s. Developing an argument strongly supported by history, an understanding of the inability of the trade union movement to oppose this process effectively must consider its trajectory in Mozambique since its origins, post-Second World War, and the trajectory of the country, particularly post-independence, characterized by civil war and the defeat of the revolutionary project. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with trade union leaders and political leaders and consultation of documentary sources files from Mozambique. As its main conclusion, this study indicates that the failure of the trade union movement, in its fight against privatizations, was due to the articulation of various causes, especially those related to its lack of autonomy in relation to the Frelimo, the “party-State”.
Trade union movement; Privatizations; State; Politics; Liberalization
