Trade Unions To Form Rival Body

Mar 14, 2004

FIVE trade unions that broke away from the National Organisations of Trade Unions (NOTU) were on Friday allowed to form an alternative National Labour Organisation.

By Charles Ariko
FIVE trade unions that broke away from the National Organisations of Trade Unions (NOTU) were on Friday allowed to form an alternative National Labour Organisation.
Last year, the unions accused NOTU of being insensitive to the plight of workers who were being exploited by their employers.
They said NOTU was no longer representing the interests of workers effectively.
The break-away unions decided to form the Central Organisation of Free Trade Unions (COFTU), which the Commissioner of Labour and Industrial Relations, David Ogaram, said was illegal.
This prompted COFTU to seek a legal interpretation from the Solicitor General.
In a February 12 letter to Christopher Kahirita, the secretary general COFTU, the Solicitor General said the unions were free to form an alternative organisation.
“The five trade unions that have decided to break away from NOTU are free to form their own national labour centre,” he said.
He accused the Ministry of Labour for not protecting government workers, saying it was the parent ministry which should be fighting for their rights.
The Solicitor General said the relevant provisions of the Trade Unions Act which required registered unions to be affiliated to NOTU, were at a variance with the provisions of the Constitution.
He said it could not bind trade unions that wanted to join or form other trade unions. Kahirita said COFTU had 50,000 members and was recruiting more.
“Our aim is to have all government civil servants unionised and we shall do everything within our means to achieve that goal,” he said.
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