The ATUC was founded in 1956 during serious labour unrest in the area. Its organ was
Al-'Amal (1957). The Secretary General of the trade union was
Abdullah Asnag, a pro-independence
Arab nationalist and admirer of
Nasser who also advocated union with Yemen. Supported by the
UAR the ATUC rose in importance when the political disturbances and the violence reached a head and political parties ceased to function. By 1959 it was the only entity representing nationalist aspirations in
Aden and it used its leverage to boycott elections as the main grouping of the People's Union. In November 1960 the ATUC boycotted the Aden municipal elections. When Aden Colony became part of the
Federation of South Arabia as the
State of Aden the unrest continued. In the federation the ATUC had a large influence in the new assembly and to prevent it seizing control of the federation in 1962 the former Colony of Aden had joined the Federation of South Arabia so that Aden's pro-British assembly members could counter the ATUC's influence. On 30 November 1967 the State of Aden became part of the independent
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, also known as South Yemen, and the ATUC became the main trade union of that state. When South Yemen united with the
Yemen Arab Republic, also known as North Yemen, on 22 May 1990, the Aden Trade Union Congress merged with the
General Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions in order to form the
Yemeni Confederation of Labor Unions. The ATUC was affiliated to the
World Federation of Trade Unions. The ATUC's political arm was the People's Socialist party. The party modeled itself on the
UK Labour Party and supported political means to accomplish its goals of British withdrawal, independence, and union with North Yemen. Its Arab nationalist orientation and reformist views commended it both to Egypt and to the left wing of Britain's Labour Party. ==See also==