labour organization founded in 1973 at Addis Ababa, Eth., on the initiative of the Organization of African Unity and replacing the former All-African Trade Union Federation (AATUF; founded in 1961) and the African Trade Union Confederation (ATUC; founded in 1962). The ATUC from its founding had encouraged member affiliation with other international union organizations, while the more militant AATUF had rejected such affiliation as incompatible with the development of a Pan-African federation.

Members of the OATUU include some 50 African national trade-union organizations, the South Africa Congress of Trade Unions, and the National Union of Namibian Workers. Its aims are to remain independent of other international trade-union organizations, to build trade-union unity on the African continent, to coordinate the action of national union organizations, and to support, in general, the interests of the African working class. Its headquarters are in Accra, Ghana.