Countering UGTAN, the WTFU-affiliated Cameroonian trade union centre CGTK launched Confédération générale aéfienne du travail (CGAT).
[7] At the onset UGTAN committees were dominated by people hailing from the CGT, with Abdoulaye Diallo as general secretary.
Abdoulaye Diallo (Minister of Labour of French Sudan) was amongst the UGTAN leaders that moved away from union organizing towards party politics.
[8] A second meeting in Bamako, held September 10–11, 1958, decided that UGTAN would campaign for a 'No' vote (i.e. for independence) in the referendum on the French Community.
[5] Union syndicale des travailleurs de Guinée, the Guinean section of UGTAN, formed one of the pillars in guaranteeing a victory for the 'No' side in Guinea.
[6] However many other sectors of UGTAN did not heed the call from the Bamako meeting, rather adopting the 'Yes' line of the political parties that they were aligned with.
The Senegalese Progressive Union (UPS) managed to divide UGTAN in Senegal, and a new organization (UGTAN-Autonome) was founded under the leadership of Abbas Guèye.
[12] In his report to the congress, Sékou Touré emphasized three points: African independence, the political contributions of the trade union movement and international relations.
The conflict escalated in the second half of 1959, as the leader of the Ivorian UGTAN branch Yao N'go Blaise was exiled to Guinea.