NGOs ask parliament to establish minimum wage

 

Their call, presented by Platform for Labour Action (PLA), is said to be based on research in which 100% of the respondents supported the need for a minimum wage and called upon government to revise the current minimum wage to enable them improve their livelihood and access to basic necessities of life. 

 

Under the employment policy, in order to improve labour administration and labour standards, one of the strategies to be adopted by government is establishing a Minimum Wages Advisory Board to undertake research on the impact of minimum wages on employment and productivity and wage trends in key sectors. 

 

The minimum wages advisory board was constituted in 1995 to review the prevailing minimum wage and make recommendations to cabinet on the same. 

 

Lillian Mugerwa, the executive director of PLA, told New Vision on Saturday that the board’s recommendations which included the proposal to have a minimum wage were gazetted in 1997 but have never been implemented to-date. 

 

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers.

 

It is intended to enable a worker afford basic necessities of life such as shelter, food and health care.  It is further intended to ensure that the least paid workers are in position to afford a decent life.

 

Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. 

 

As Mugerwa explained from her office in Bukoto, Kampala, the national laws equally uphold similar values such as the right to a life of dignity as enshrined in the Ugandan Constitution and other international instruments to which Uganda is a state party. 

 

In a 2013 study that was conducted in seven districts of Kampala, Mukono, Iganga, Lira, Amolatar,Dokolo and Kaliro, voices were sought from a cross-section of workers who included domestic workers, teachers, security guards, tea estate workers and market vendors. 

 

According to the research, workers at a tea estate in Mukono complained that they were earning sh1,000 per day – which is less than a dollar and well below the poverty line.

 

Another extract from the study is the case of a security guards strike, with one of the strikers quoted as saying: “We are protecting billions, but earning a mere sh140,000 [per month] which cannot pay rent and school fees for my children. We want a reasonable salary”. 

 

However the Minimum Wages Bill 2012 has not yet been presented on the floor of Parliament to-date owing to a delay by the ministry of finance to issue a certificate of financial implication.

 

Although contentious, the bill proposes that minimum wages boards be set up to sectoral level so that wages can be determined depending on the needs of each sector. 

 

The bill also proposes penalties for failure to comply with the minimum wage and calls for the repeal of the Minimum Wages Advisory Board and Wages Councils Act Cap 221. 

 

According to Mugerwa, the position taken by government to delay establishment of a minimum wage is not in line with the National Development Plan 2009/2010-2014/2015, which highlights the establishment of a minimum wage for decent income, improved productivity and increase in aggregate demand for goods and services. 

 

The 2009/2010 labour market survey showed that 2.7 million of the people living below the poverty line (7.5 million) are termed as the working poor. They earn a median monthly income of sh50,000 and sh54,000 for casual labourers and workers in the agricultural sector. 

 

PLA is working together with such organizations as Hurinet-Uganda, LASPNET, NGO Forum, DENIVA, USPP CRO –Jinja, Uganda Law Society, FIDA, National Union of Disabled Persons in Uganda, Uganda Women's Network and CEDOVIP to lobby government to establish minimum wage.