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The National Workers' Union of Mali (UNTM, Union Nationale des Travailleurs du Mali) is a national trade union center in Mali. The union is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation and the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity.

History

UNTM was formed in 1963. It was initially closely supervised by the Keïta and Traoré regimes. In 1986, UNTM was the only recognised trade union in the country. It was affiliated to the governing party, but claimed to retain a degree of autonomy.

However, in the 1990s the relationship between the union and government deteriorated. In 1991, UNTM participated in large-scale protests against the Traoré regime. Amadou Toumani Touré consulted with Bakary Karambe, then-president of the UNTM, before arresting Traoré in March of that year. UNTM then formed part of the committee responsible for the transition to democracy.

UNTM supported the Union of Cotton Producers of Kita in its infancy. In 1997, police occupied the union's headquarters and sealed the general secretary's office.

In November 2020, UNTM threatened a general strike over a large amount of demands including the reopening of railroads, post services, reducing the cost of living and pay. The strike was conducted as threatened from December 14–18, especially impacting Mali's gold mines. However, some mining corporations such as Barrick Gold and B2Gold said they were able to continue production.

References

1. "Trade Union Development Projects Directory - UNTM". ITUC.
2. "USDOS – US Department of State. Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1986. Mali". February 1987.
3. Jane Turrittin (November 1991). "Mali: People Topple Traoré". Review of African Political Economy (52): 97–103. JSTOR 4005962.
4. Alexis Roay (September 2010). "Peasant struggles in Mali: from defending cotton producers' interests to becoming part of the Malian power structures". Review of African Political Economy. 37 (125): 299–314. doi:10.1080/03056244.2010.510628. hdl:10.1080/03056244.2010.510628. JSTOR 25767279. S2CID 154481154.
5. ICTUR; et al., eds. (2005). Trade Unions of the World (6th ed.). London, UK: John Harper Publishing. ISBN 0-9543811-5-7.
6. Alex Thurston (2020-11-24). "Malian Labor Threatens a General Strike, and Seeks a Different Kind of State". Sahel Blog.
7. "Mali union starts strike that will include gold mines". 2020-12-14.
8. "Some big Mali gold mines say not affected by general strike". Reuters.

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