Democratic Party (DP) Spokeperson, Kenneth Paul Kakande has decried the poor working conditions that labourers in the country faced with.
Kakande made the outcry while addressing the media on Tuesday at the DP party headquarters in Kampala, highlighting the challenges that labourers go through across the country.
Kakande said that the labour industry in the country is characterized by discrimination at work, non-payment or unlawful deduction of wages, non-provision of written contracts of employment, breach of employment contracts, unfair or unlawful dismissal among others.
He noted that employees continue to be bullied by employers even when the organizations have anti-bullying policies and that in organizations that have good health and safety standards, workers still grapple with occupational hazards including accidents.
“Worse still, workers don’t get compensated as required by the law, others have been falsely accused of wrong doing or a minor infringement of rules which often get blown up into excuse to dismiss them from work,” Kakande said.
He regretted the fact that the Employment Act which serves as a guide for all labour relations hasn’t been effectively implemented due to lack of capacity by the relevant offices and a political will.
Kakande noted that despite the placement of labour officers at the Local Governments, with the mandate to create awareness, mediate, inspect and execute labour claims, the situation is still appalling.
“In fact, the majority of these officers themselves labour under poor working conditions and are poorly paid. Subsequently, many cases end up being frustrated since many officers are vulnerable to bribery”.
He added; “Employers find it easier and cheaper to pay a bribe than to compensate a worker whose rights have been infringed upon”.
He criticized government for failure to build the officers’ capacity to take charge alongside the sagging functionality of the Industrial Court.
“DP as a party that believes in Truth and Justice is committed to fighting for justice for workers. We are appalled that the Industrial Court is weak and it is nothing but a paper tiger in its current state,” Kakande observed.
He emphasized that unless the government streamlines and empowers the Industrial Court to effectively adjudicate and execute cases as well as implementing the minimum wage, the push for workers’ rights will be nothing but empty slogans.