The USA and Labour Relations in Libya’s Nascent Oil Industry

In the second half of the 1950s, Libya became one of the main oil producing countries of the Mediterranean. Following the Suez Crisis, U.S. and British oil companies and governments sought to differentiate the sources of oil coming from the Middle East, in order to avoid being entirely dependent on the Suez Canal. Libya’s geographic position west of the Canal and close to the markets and refineries of Western Europe made it an ideal place for foreign companies to invest public and corporate resources. International oil politics in Libya were not defined only in terms of oil revenues, but also in terms of labor policies. As U.S. oil companies established their position in Libya, they brought with them the forms of exploitation and discrimination that characterized America’s informal empire in Latin America and the Middle East. In order to challenge U.S. policies, the Libyan government and trade unions embraced the idea that the Libyan workforce should be crucial in assuring Libya’s independence and that workers should be granted decent working and living conditions. In the late 1950s, a concerted effort led by the U.S. administration, conservative Libyan trade unions, and the main American trade union, the AFL-CIO, marginalized radical Libyan oil workers. Yet, during the Six Day War of 1967, oil workers emerged as one of the main forces behind Libya’s challenge to international oil politics support for oil nationalism, and set the stage for the emergence of Qaddafi’s regime in 1969.