This presentation is an effort to trace the trajectory of labour as it has evolved within the changing production modes in Africa. This paper is being delivered within a context of global financial crisis, of capitalism in retreat and the ensuing brutal repression of labour worldwide. Nation states in general and African government in particular, are faced with serious legitimacy crisis as they fail increasingly to respond to the needs of their people. My discussion will explore political systems and their accompanying economic structures that shape production modes within which workers sell their labour power. I shall attempt to highlight the fortunes of labour in Africa, how dominant economic forms shape the African workforce and the implications such emerging structures and forms hold for organised labour in Africa.