FACTBOX-Trade union activity in Middle East, Africa

May 28 (Reuters) - The global financial crisis has made trade unions around the world increasingly vocal, although most are dealing with declining membership.

Below is a factbox on trade union activity in the key Middle Eastern and African emerging markets of Turkey, South Africa and the Gulf.



For details on emerging Europe, click [ID:nLR983714]

For details on Western Europe, click [ID:nLR987269]



TURKEY

-- Trade unions are weak in Turkey and mostly confined to the manufacturing sector. Membership is rare in the service sector and discouraged by tight regulations dating back to 1980 military coup. Three rival labour confederations represent the country's workers, with one of them close to the government, one is left wing and the other is at the centre. The rivalry among the unions eases the pressure on the government and employers to expand workers' rights.

-- The unions are increasingly vocal and demonstrated against rising unemployment in Istanbul on May 1, entering a symbolic city square, defying decades-old police ban.

-- Unregistered economy is large in the country. Around 40 percent of workers in the country are not registered in any social security institution, and have no protection.

-- The unemployment rate, which reached its highest, at 16.1 percent, in the Jan.-March period, is a major headache for the government, and the rate is expected to rise further as the IMF expects the Turkish economy to shrink 5.1 percent this year. The crisis has left almost one in three young Turks without a job, and forced the government to employ stimulus measures including tax cuts to lift the economic activity.



SOUTH AFRICA

-- The giant trade union federation COSATU's influence is more pronounced after Jacob Zuma became the country's new president. Zuma received strong support from COSATU and the South African Communist Party in the run-up to South Africa's April elections.

-- COSATU nearly derailed one of South Africa's biggest listings this month when it attempted to block the bourse debut of mobile phone group Vodacom (VODJ.J). COSATU and the industry regulator launched a last-minute bid to stop Vodacom going public because it forms part of a deal that gives British-based Vodafone (VOD.L) control of the company. The trade union body objected to foreign ownership of a major South African company and said it feared job losses. The deal enriched businessmen close to the former government of Thabo Mbeki, angering leftists.

-- The National Union of Mineworkers, affiliated to COSATU, is squaring up to gold mining groups. The NUM has rejected a 5 percent pay increase offer from employers in the key gold mining industry, raising the spectre of strikes in the sector.

-- South Africa's official jobless rate rose to 23.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from 21.9 percent the previous quarter, with continued pressure on labour-intensive sectors such as the car industry pointing to more job losses this year. Including people giving up looking for work, the broader definition of unemployment hit 31.2 percent. [ID:nL5668518]



GULF ECONOMIES

-- Trade unions are rare in most of the Gulf Arab region where most workers are temporary residents from Asian countries and some Arab states such as Egypt. United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have particularly weak labour representation.

-- Kuwait stands out with very active trade unions, structured in a fashion that makes them true pressure tools. However, political parties are banned, so the dynamic is very different from a traditional Western economy. The oil industry trade unions have paralysed oil exports from the country several times in the past through strikes to press for better pay and pension terms. However, there have been none in recent months.