Tanzania
The ITUC affiliates in Tanzania are the Trade Unions’ Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) and the Zanzibar Trade Union Congress (ZATUC).
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
Freedom of association
The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
The right to freedom of association is recognized by law but strictly regulated.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.
Barriers to the establishment of organisations
- Power to refuse official registration on arbitrary, unjustified or ambiguous grounds
- In Zanzibar, the Registrar has considerable powers to restrict registration, for example, if s/he does not agree with the union's provisions.
- Excessive representativity or minimum number of members required for the establishment of a union
- Trade unions in the private sector must have at least 20 members to register, while public sector unions need 30 members. In Zanzibar there is a minimum membership requirement of 50 people before registration can go ahead.
- Other formalities or requirements which excessively delay or substantially impair the free establishment of organisations
- The ELRA does not stipulate a reasonable period for the processing of applications for registration of trade unions. While the Government reported to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) in 2015/2016 that this had been addressed in the Regulations to Act No. 7 of 2004, these Regulations have not been sighted.
- Sanctions imposed for organising or joining an organisation not officially recognised
- Unions must register within six months of being established. Those that fail to do so are subject to (unspecified) sanctions.
- Restrictions on trade unions’ right to establish branches, federation and confederation or to affiliate with national and international organisations
- Five organisations are needed to form a federation. Trade union affiliation to other organisations can be annulled if it was obtained without government approval or if the union is considered to be an organisation whose remit is broader than just employer-worker relations.
Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration
- Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom
- The government prescribes the terms of office of trade unionists. Failure to comply with government requirements is subject to fines and/or imprisonment. In any given trade union, only one union leader may be employed full-time to carry out trade union functions; all others must work full-time in the enterprise or industrial sector in which they have been elected. In Zanzibar, unions are prohibited from using their funds, directly or indirectly, to pay any fines or penalties incurred by a trade union official in the discharge of his or her duties on behalf of the organisation (s 42, Labour Relations Act). They are also required to obtain the Registrar’s approval before contributing to institutions (s 41(2)(j) LRA).
- Administrative authorities’ power to unilaterally dissolve, suspend or de-register trade union organisations
- The Registrar can suspend a union if public security or public order are endangered. In Zanzibar, the High Court can interfere in trade union affairs by appointing the Registrar to act as a trade union liquidator.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office
- Others categories
- Members of the prison service are excluded from the scope of the ELRA, and thereby denied legal protection of their right to freedom of association (s2(1)(iii) ELRA). In Zanzibar, the following categories of employees are excluded from the Labour Relations Act 2005: (i) judges and all judiciary officers; (ii) members of special departments; and (iii) employees of the House of Representatives.
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents
- Absence of criteria or discretionary, unclear or unreasonable criteria for determining representative organisations
- In Zanzibar, the rules determining majority unions and the collective bargaining rightso of minority unions are unclear (section 57(2) of the Labour Relations Act of 2005).
Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining
- Compulsory conciliation and / or binding arbitration procedure in the event of disputes during collective bargaining, other than in essential services
- A system of compulsory arbitration sets the conditions and terms of employment of public service employees.
Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors
- Other civil servants and public employees
- According to the 2002 Public Service (Negotiating Machinery) Bill, workers in public services do not have the right to collective bargaining. In addition, the government sets wages for employees of the government and state-owned organisations. Prison staff do not have the right to collective bargaining.
- Other categories
- In Zanzibar, managerial employees do not have the right to bargain collectively with respect to salaries and other conditions of employment.
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution.
The right to strike is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Barriers to lawful strike actions
- Excessively long prior notice / cooling-off period
- Sections 63(2)(b) and 69(2) of Zanzibar’s Labour Relations Act require a trade union to give the mediation authority at least 30 days to resolve the dispute, and subsequently give 14 days’ notice of the purpose, nature, place and date of a strike, before commencing industrial action.
- Compulsory recourse to arbitration, or to long and complex conciliation and mediation procedures prior to strike actions
- There is a compulsory 30-day mediation period before lawful strike action may be taken.
Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions
- Restrictions with respect to the objective of a strike (e.g. industrial disputes, economic and social issues, political, sympathy and solidarity reasons)
- Strike action is permissible as a measure of last resort in the case of conflicts of interest, whilst rights-based disputes are referred to the labour court. Secondary strike action is allowed provided that the primary action is lawful, there is a relationship between the primary and secondary employer and the secondary action is proportional; a 14-day notice period is required for secondary action.
- Restrictions with respect to type of strike action (e.g. pickets, wild-cat, working to rule, sit-down, go-slow)
- Picketing is prohibited.
Undermining of the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness
- Absence of specific protection for workers involved in lawful strike actions (e.g. against dismissal)
- The law does not protect those taking part in legal strikes from retribution.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- Undue restrictions for “public servants”
- Section 26(2) of the Public Service (Negotiating Machinery) Act (No. 19 of 2003) requires certain conditions to be satisfied for civil servants to take part in a strike.
- Discretionary determination or excessively long list of “essential services” in which the right to strike is prohibited or severely restricted
- Strikes are forbidden if the government considers they endanger the life and health of the population, and the law has now broadened the category to cover almost 50% of all services, including firefighting, civil aviation, telecommunications, health services and associated laboratory services and electricity. Strikes in other sectors may be either temporarily or permanently banned after a complicated investigation process. Section 64(1) and (2) of the LRA sets forth categories of employees in Zanzibar that may not participate in a strike, and lists several services that are deemed essential, including sanitation services, and in which strikes are forbidden.
In practice
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. Companies often resort to transfer and retrenchment of unionised workers to dissolve union membership.
The Tanzania Mines, Energy and Construction Workers Union (TAMICO) reports persistent problems with employers in the construction sector who refuse to remit union dues despite check-off agreements. TAMICO has initiated proceedings before the Commission for Mediation and Arbitration and the High Court.
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.
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.
On 21 August 2017, public transport operators went on a four-hour 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 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 Authority went on 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.
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 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.
In July 2012, police arrested members of the Tanzania Teachers’ Union (TTU) participating in a 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 unlawful. On 9 January 2013, the TTU filed proceedings in the Court of Appeal.
On 22 June 2012, Ulimboka declared a nation-wide 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 between doctors at public hospitals and the Government.
Workers tend to stage illegal wildcat strikes and walkouts because of the lengthy and cumbersome requirements for calling a legal strike. In the private sector, employers often deny their workers the right to organise and to engage in collective bargaining. 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.
Workers tend to stage illegal wildcat strikes and walkouts because of the lengthy and cumbersome requirements for calling a legal strike. In the private sector, employers often deny their workers the right to organise and to engage in collective bargaining. President Kikwete declared the strike in May by the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) illegal. The 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 would be sacked, however no dismissals were reported.
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 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.