Workers want employent policy

Workers have asked government to forward the National Employment Policy to Parliament for approval within one month, lest they strike. National Organisation of Trade Unions boss, Mr Wilson Owere, on Monday said that they have lobbied government for over a year to pass the policy but its “bureaucrats have frustrated” their efforts. “We have always been told that the draft policy is with the Cabinet. We want to know when Cabinet will discuss this policy and we are giving government one month to come out with an employment policy which we and other stakeholders drafted eight months ago,” he said.

“We have run out of patience and if nothing is done in the given time-frame, our central governing council will make a decision on what action to take.” According to Mr Owere, Uganda is one of the few countries on the African continent without a comprehensive national employment policy. He told Jobs and Career that the absence of this national policy has led to sporadic and haphazard planning and decision making in the country. “Take the example of human resource management. There is no standardised policy guidelines to set the benchmarks for employment,” Mr Owere said. Government has since 1986 passed laws such as the Workers Compensation Act 2000, Employment Act 2006, and Occupational Safety and Health Act 2006, which have created a mechanism for settlement of labour disputes at work places and ensured health and safety of workers.

However, the challenge of enforcement is handicapped by absence of a national employment policy. He said workers have continued to face many challenges, including an erratic wage system due to the absence of a minimum wage, and lack of standardised working hours both in the private and public sector. Although there are over 400,000 unionised workers in Uganda, it is the only East Afican country without a minimum wage.