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Postcard from Kampala
Unions face challenge
of economic change
Uganda's surging economy and privatization drive are putting pressure on the country's fragile systems of industrial relations. Geoffrey Denye Kalebbo, a journalist at The New Vision newspaper examines the state of labour relations in the country and highlights the challenge of establishing genuine tripartism in this growing, but still underdeveloped market economy.
KAMPALA, Uganda - Last May, worker representatives took to the streets in Kampala to denounce some of the country's leading hotels for insisting that employees in these newly privatized enterprises put in long hours, without expecting overtime pay. Similar accusations were brought against textile and food producers in the eastern city of Jinja in Uganda's principal industrial zone, where labour relations have been aggravated by the continual talk of cost-cutting and maximizing profits, which come in the wake of enterprise restructuring.
Former Labour Minister Paul Etiang says that with responsible trade unions it is possible to cultivate a conducive climate for improved labour relations.
"Employers need to adopt a positive attitude towards trade unions because poor working conditions have not yet been completely eliminated in this country and the world at large", he argues.
What is certain is that in Uganda, as in so many developing countries, catering for the work force remains a major problem, in spite of economic growth. Amidst pervasive poverty and vast restructuring requirements, the poor wages and harsh conditions of millions of workers mean that discontent over inequity and social injustice are never far removed from economic policy making.
Although privatization is widely touted as one of the major factors in the recent surge in economic growth, leaders of the National Organization of Trade Unions (NOTU) continue to decry the growing exploitation of workers in newly privatized enterprises.
In the last two years alone, more than 50 formerly state-owned enterprises have been sold or otherwise transferred to private hands as part of an overall drive to reduce government involvement in the economy and to generate productivity.
Job losses and unfair labour practices
Few Ugandans dispute the overall trend of the Governments economic policy, but many are increasingly concerned about job losses and unfair labour practices. Others are concerned that the country is plunging headlong into the new world of private enterprise and entrepreneurship, without updating its labour market institutions and legislation, including a Trade Union Act, that date back to the mid-1970s, the era of Idi Amin.
Most Ugandans recognize the limits of government management of the economy and acknowledge that privatization has boosted prospects in key industries, notably tourism, textiles and agriculture, which were previously mismanaged. In some sectors, notably hotels and tourism, privatization has helped to create many new jobs. However given the extent of poverty throughout the country, many more jobs and income opportunities will beneeded if the employment shock that so often accompanies privatization is to be contained.
The consequences of privatization are only a small part of the difficulty facing workers in Uganda. If job prospects in the new private sector look daunting, the dwindling state sector looks even worse. In spite of recent economic successes, Uganda faces strict spending limits dictated by World Bank and IMF agreements, which means that in the event of industrial disputes, the margin for manoeuvre is slim. This only deepens the impasse between the workers demands and what the government can offer. Under such circumstances, politics and economics risk becoming critically intermeshed.
Two years ago, medical workers went on strike seeking improved pay and working conditions. Though the strike was considered by some as a deliberate move to embarrass the government by portraying its health policy as a failure, the government insisted there would be no immediate pay increases for the medical workers, because overall revenue collections were still low. The medical workers are still waiting.
Another perennially disgruntled group of public sector employees is teachers, who have long complained of poor and untimely pay, appalling working conditions and general negligence by the Ministry of Education. Teachers problems are compounded by problems in organizing unions.
Moses Nkalubo, a teacher at a leading high school in Uganda, Makerere College, says that "for teachers it is the individual interests at play; no collective bargaining."
There have been a number of unsuccessful attempts to register the teachers trade union in the past three years, but conflict between two rival groups has made it difficult for the teachers to have a common voice. The result is that the authorities have refused to recognise and register their union.
The plight of the teachers is singular but not unique in Uganda, where representation of workers by trade unions is often inadequate. In some cases, union representation is nonexistent, either because of resistance from employers or, failure of unions themselves to organize effectively. Some workers do not even know the role of the trade unions they belong to.
In Uganda, the trade union movement came into being in its current form after the enactment of the 1975 Trade Union Decree. Today, however, the rights of trade unions is enshrined in Article 40(3) of the Constitution, which stipulates that "every worker has a right to form or join a Trade Union of his or her choice for the promotion and protection of his or her economic and social interests." Workers are also entitled to collective bargaining and representation and to withdraw their labour. A total of 17 trade unions are registered under their umbrella organization - the National Organization of Trade Unions (NOTU).
Mobilizing workers
Sam Lyomoki, a Member of Parliament with a track record for representing workers interests, says there is general lack of mobilization for workers to join trade unions. He postulates, "There is widespread apathy and ignorance among workers on the importance of trade unions in this country." He says there is "a perception that government seems to favour employers and always threatens workers when they come up to air their grievances."
But the Commissioner for Labour, Dr. David Ogaram, says some workers unions have abandoned their traditional role of fighting for workers interests to marshal political capital. "A trade union cannot be registered and recognized if its members are invlved in politics. This is why we have not registered the teachers union whose two rival factions seem to be more involved in politics than in representing workers interests," said Dr. Ogaram.
Lyomoki, however, has another view. "We need young and dynamic politicians to lead trade unions", he says. "And this is what is happening and it provides a way forward."