National organization(s) | SLLC |
---|---|
Regulatory authority | Ministry of Labour and Social Security |
Primary legislation | Employment Act 2023 |
Total union membership | 354,747 (2022)[1] |
Trade union density | 13% (2022)[1] |
Global Rights Index | |
4 Systematic violations of rights | |
International Labour Organization | |
Sierra Leone is a member of the ILO | |
Convention ratification | |
Freedom of Association | 15 June 1961 |
Right to Organise | 13 June 1961 |
Trade unions in Sierra Leone first emerged in the period around World War I, with reports indicating that civil servants organised unions as early as 1912.[2] The Railway Workers Union was founded in 1919.[3] In the late 1930s, trade unions affiliated to the Youth League formed the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to coordinate actions within the labour movement.[4] In 1940, trade unions were legalised.[5] In 1946 tripartite bargaining councils were established that incorporated trade unions for minimum wage and sectoral bargaining with employers.[6] The Sierra Leone Labour Congress (SLLC) was founded in 1976. Although the country's civil war at the end of the 20th Century had a devastating effect on the labour movement,[7] unions played an important role in nonviolent resistance, launching a national strike in the immediate aftermath of the 1997 coup by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.[8] Since the end of the civil war, trade unionism in the informal sector has grown.[9]