4 – Systematic violations of rights
The ITUC Global Rights Index

Tanzania

The ITUC affiliates in Tanzania are the Trade Unions’ Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) and the Zanzibar Trade Union Congress (ZATUC).

In practice

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Union busting practices in the construction sector29-01-2018

The Tanzania Mines, Energy and Construction Workers Union (TAMICO) reports that the construction companies deliberately reorganise their operations so as to prevent unions from reaching a majority as an exclusive bargaining unit bargaining unit A group of workers within a particular company, establishment, industry or occupation that constitutes an appropriate unit for the purpose of collective bargaining.

See bargaining agent
. Companies often resort to transfer and retrenchment of unionised workers to dissolve union membership.

Union dues withheld by employers29-01-2018
Physical threats against TAMICO representative 29-11-2017

On 2 and 29 November 2017, managers of the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) in Njombe threatened Ms Tunza Sadick, the district secretary of the Tanzania Mines, Energy and Construction Workers Union (TAMICO), with having her arrested for her trade union activities. She was merely trying to access the premises of the Moronga Makete Road Project. She filed a complaint before the regional labour officer of Njombe.

TAMICO member shot dead 27-10-2017

On 22 October 2017 Mr Haji Athumani Miraji, a member of the Tanzania Mines, Energy and Construction Workers Union (TAMICO) who was employed as an operator on the Lusitu Mawengi road project, was shot by a security guard, allegedly on the instructions of the management of the company. Mr Miraji was brought to the nearest hospital, but he succumbed to his wounds on 25 October 2017.

Kinondoni District Council raises levies to be paid by bus operators without consulting workers21-08-2017

On 21 August 2017, public transport operators went on a four-hour strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
in protest against the decision by the Kinondoni District Council authorities to increase the levy paid by bus operators from Sh 500 (USD 0.25) to Sh 1,000 (USD 0.5) for reasons linked to alleged poor performance. According to the Union of Commuter Bus Owners in Dar es Salaam (UWADAR), the decision was taken without the agreement of the workers while the authorities were accusing bus operators of allegations linked to factors beyond their control, such as delays caused by the poor state of the roads leading to bus stops or the alleged imposing of additional fees by bus stop gatekeepers. The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
was ended after operators met with the Ubungo District Commissioner, who ordered the authorities to stop the levy increment.

When workers at the Tanzania-Zambia Railway...03-09-2013

When workers at the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
to demand the payment of salary arrears for the months of May, June, July and August, management dismissed 826 workers in Tanzania Cost and Profit Centre, 120 in Dar es Salaam, 53 in Mbeya, 63 at Kongolo Quarry and five at the rail’s construction unit. On 29 August 2013, the Tazara Board of Directors reversed the management decision to sack 1,067 the workers. However, the company refuses to pay the salary arrears which is why the Tazara Railway Workers Union (TRAWU) decided to continue the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
.

Anti-union discrimination31-12-2012

In December 2012, the management of Kampala International University (KIU) at the Dar es Salaam campus dismissed 40 staff members who recently joined the Research, Academic and Allied Workers’ Union (RAAWU). Since November 2012, staff members have been on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
demanding payment of their salaries which were last paid in October 2012. After RAAWU successfully opened a branch, the university’s manager provided letters of termination to 40 union members who were mostly employed as teaching staff and had joined the RAAWU one week earlier. RAAWU is pursuing legal action over the terminations.

Arrests and threats31-07-2012

In July 2012, police arrested members of the Tanzania Teachers’ Union (TTU) participating in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
. Other teachers, administrators and union leaders received threats from authorities that they would be arrested and prosecuted. The government refused to negotiate with the TTU over the release of the workers. On 2 August 2012, the High Court declared the July strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
unlawful. On 9 January 2013, the TTU filed proceedings in the Court of Appeal.

Violence26-06-2012

On 22 June 2012, Ulimboka declared a nation-wide strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
of doctors, ignoring a court order to return to work, to demand better pay and working conditions.

On 26 June 2012, Steven Ulimboka, chair of the Medical Association of Tanzania, was kidnapped at gunpoint by five men. He was taken to a forest on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, where he was beaten and tortured. The abduction occurred during an industrial dispute industrial dispute A conflict between workers and employers concerning conditions of work or terms of employment. May result in industrial action. between doctors at public hospitals and the Government.

Trade union rights often ignored 31-12-2011

Workers tend to stage illegal wildcat strikes and walkouts because of the lengthy and cumbersome requirements for calling a legal strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
. In the private sector, employers often deny their workers the right to organise and to engage in collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. Workers in the gold mines have reported widespread violations of their trade union rights, although the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) has signed a framework agreement with Anglo Gold Ashanti to improve the respect of workers’ rights. The Building and Woodworkers International (BWI) has also signed a framework agreement with Royal BAM to promote and protect worker’s rights.

Difficulties in organising legal strikes31-12-2010

Workers tend to stage illegal wildcat strikes and walkouts because of the lengthy and cumbersome requirements for calling a legal strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
. In the private sector, employers often deny their workers the right to organise and to engage in collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. President Kikwete declared the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
in May by the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) illegal. The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
was called after a breakdown in negotiations over, amongst other things, an increase in the minimum wage. The President had threatened that all civil servants taking part in the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
would be sacked, however no dismissals were reported.

Court rules in union’s favour07-07-2009

The Tanzanian labour court upheld a wrongful dismissal claim from about 700 ex-miners of Tanzania Bulyanhulu Gold Mine on 7 July. The miners were dismissed for taking part in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
in 2007 following a breakdown of pay talks. The mine suspended output for several weeks before firing all the 1,300 striking workers, accusing them of illegally walking out. Some were later rehired, while the rest were represented in the court case. The workers’ union TANZANIA Mines, Energy, Construction and Allied Workers’ Union (TAMICO) has accused the employer, Barrick Tanzania Ltd., of poor labour practices.

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