Jackie Nalubega
Organising workers for trade union unity of action, density and quality public services in East Africa
The project aims at ensuring that unions in East Africa engage in organising, increase the recruitment of new members and reduce demarcation disputes between unions through agreements.
The objective of this project is that trade unions in the public sector increase union density within their sectors and increase unity of action.
This project was put in place after a planning meeting from which it was established that East Africa unions face the following challenges:
Low trade union density and high demarcation conflicts that lead to hefty costs on court cases
low recruitment of new members
loss of members due to termination, natural attrition and splinter unions
lack of organising plans thus declining revenue
poor visibility of unions
conflicts over organising within the same sectors
Video
Young workers from eight Kenyan PSI affiliates came together on International Youth Day, 12 August 2021, for a training session in the framework of the PSI project “Organizing workers for trade union unity of action, density and quality public services” sponsored by Kommunal/Union to Union.
Young workers union training on International Youth Day 2021
The project will concretely ensure that unions engage in organising, increase the recruitment of new members and reduce the demarcation disputes between unions through agreements.
Beneficiaries are trade union/county leaders, education officers, branch officials, shop stewards, unorganised workers and civilians who utilize public services.
Article written by Phil Wilmot and Twinomugisa Pius for ROAR magazine
Can East African workers overcome cooptation and suppression?
Are radical worker struggles, which waned as a result of protracted government efforts to infiltrate and co-opt organized labor, making a comeback in East Africa?
https://roarmag.org/essays/east-african-labor-organizing/