Under the colonial rules, the Algerian workers could not set up any form of trade unions because of their inability to organize themselves into national organizations and the domination of French trade unions, especially the Confederation Generale du Travail (CGT), to which some Algerian became affiliated. Treated by the colonisers as second class citizens, most of the Algerians workers were too poor, very illiterate, and unaware of their employment rights and therefore unable to organize themselves in any way possible.