In the less developed economies, trade union movements increasingly tend to be subordinated and tied to governing mass political parties. This tendency is evident throughout East Africa, where the existing independent trade union movements have been replaced by government controlled, all-embracing national trade union centers. These centers have become dominant despite a legacy of economic unionism from the British colonial period. The especially interesting aspect of the process of domination has been the parallels that have existed in spite of sharp differences in the historical relationships between the union movement and the mass party in each of the three countries. Perceived as an institution capable of performing certain useful economic or social control functions, the organization of viable trade unions has been an objective of British colonial policy since 1930, although it was only after World War II that a serious effort was made to encourage indigenous union growth in Africa.' The attempt to impose institutions deriving from a more advanced stage of industrial development onto the primitive economic and social organization of postwar East Africa was bound to present difficulties. The African worker felt no commitment to a wage-labor system; he lacked any class (as distinct from tribe) consciousness, possessed few skills or crafts, frequently had preconceived targets (period or monetary), and was generally unfamilar with the concept of voluntary organization. Despite the absence of sufficient economic prerequisites, an attempt was made (with foreign aid and under nonindigenous influences) to establish primarily economic-oriented unions. This attempt was initially successful; trade unions in most of East Africa (as distinguished from many of the other underdeveloped countries) were initially organized independently of the dominant nationalist movement or political party. The leadership of the unions was frequently selected and trained by British Trade Union advisors or representatives of the Western-dominated International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).