Uganda
The ITUC affiliate in Uganda is the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU).
Uganda ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 2005 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) in 1983.
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 regulated by law.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.
Barriers to the establishment of organisations
- Other formalities or requirements which excessively delay or substantially impair the free establishment of organisations
- Section 18 of the Labour Unions Act stipulates that the process of registration of a labour union shall be within 90 days from the date of submission of an application.
Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration
- Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom
- The Registrar may interdict or suspend an officer or person acting as an officer of a labour union, where the Registrar is satisfied that the officer or person has been convicted by a court of law or is being investigated with a view to prosecution for the misuse etc of union funds or wilful or persistent failure to comply with directions properly given by the Registrar under the Labour Unions Act (section 23, Labour Unions Act). Section 31(1) requires that trade union officers (other than the Secretary General and treasurer) have been and still are engaged or employed in an industry or occupation with which the union is directly concerned. Section 33 empowers the Registrar to call or direct the calling of an organization’s general annual meeting, and give ancillary or consequential directions in relation to the calling, holding or conduct of the meeting. Section 51 provides that the Registrar may inspect the books of accounts and the list of members of a registered labour union at any reasonable time. Section 53 further provides that the Registrar may require that detailed accounts be rendered, if the Registrar has reasonable cause to suspect an irregularity.
- Administrative authorities’ power to unilaterally dissolve, suspend or de-register trade union organisations
- The Registrar shall cancel a labour union's registration if satisfied that any of the union's principal objects or constitution has become unlawful, or the union has wilfully, and after notice from the Registrar, contravened any provision of the Labour Unions Act (section 20, Labour Unions Act). The Labour Unions Act does not indicate what constitutes an unlawful object for a labour union.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office
- Other civil servants and public employees
- The Prisons Act 1958 prohibits any member of the Uganda Prison Service from being a member of or attending any meeting of a trade union or other association the object of which is to control or influence salaries, wages, pensions or conditions of service (section 19, Prisons Act 1958).
- Non-national or migrant workers
- An alien shall not be a member of the executive committee of a trade union (section 76, Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control Act).
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is enshrined in the Constitution.
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining
- Prohibition or limitation of collective bargaining at a certain level (local, regional, territorial, national; enterprise, industry, sector or general)
- Under section 7 of the Labour Unions Act No. 7 of 2006, trade union federations do not have the right to engage in collective bargaining.
- Compulsory conciliation and / or binding arbitration procedure in the event of disputes during collective bargaining, other than in essential services
- Any party to an existing or apprehended labour dispute may report the dispute to a Labour Officer. If the dispute is not resolved by conciliation or on the terms of settlement proposed by the Labour Officer within 4 weeks of being reported, the dispute shall be referred to the Industrial Court at the request of any party to the dispute, subject to any agreed dispute settlement procedures. The Industrial Court shall arbitrate on the labour dispute without undue delay (sections 3-8, Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act).
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
- Compulsory recourse to arbitration, or to long and complex conciliation and mediation procedures prior to strike actions
- Any party to an existing or apprehended labour dispute may report the dispute to a Labour Officer. If the dispute is not resolved by conciliation or on the terms of settlement proposed by the Labour Officer within 4 weeks of being reported, the dispute shall be referred to the Industrial Court at the request of any party to the dispute, subject to any agreed dispute settlement procedures. The Industrial Court shall arbitrate on the labour dispute without undue delay (sections 3-8, Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act).
- Absence of an independent body responsible for declaring whether a strike is legal or not
- The Government has the power to declare a strike illegal under section 29(2) of the Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act.
Undue interference by authorities or employers during the course of a strike
- Authorities’ or employers’’’ power to unilaterally prohibit, limit, suspend or cease a strike action
- Strike or other industrial action may be declared unlawful for a period of up to 3 weeks where a Labour Officer seeks to settle a labour dispute by conciliation (section 28(5), Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act). A Labour Officer may seek to settle a dispute by conciliation at the request of any party to the dispute (section 5, Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act).
- Authorities’ or employers’ power to prevent or end a strike by referring the dispute to arbitration
- Strike or other industrial action may be declared unlawful for a period of up to 3 weeks where a Labour Officer or the Minister refers the dispute to the Industrial Court for arbitration. A Labour Officer shall refer a dispute to the Industrial Court at the request of any party to the dispute, or where the Labour Officer is of the view that a valid collective agreement settles the matter in dispute. The Minister may refer a dispute to the Industrial Court where one or more parties to a dispute do not comply with the recommendations of a board of inquiry appointed by the Minister (sections 5, 27 and 28, Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act).
Undermining of the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness
- Excessive civil or penal sanctions for workers and unions involved in non-authorised strike actions
- Counselling or procuring a strike or other industrial action where the matter in dispute is the subject of a valid award of the Industrial Court, or the Labour Officer has declared any industrial action unlawful, is an offence punishable by a fine of 480,000 shillings, or imprisonment for a term of up to 1 year (section 29, Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act). In addition, organizers of public meetings, who fail to comply with the requirements imposed by the Public Order Management Act 2013 commit an act of disobedience of statutory duty which is punishable under the Penal Code with imprisonment. These requirements include stringent time frames for giving notice of the meetings and time limits during which public meetings can take place.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- Discretionary determination or excessively long list of “essential services” in which the right to strike is prohibited or severely restricted
- The civil aviation service is regarded as an essential service. Although strike action is not prohibited by law workers engaged in essential services, between 14 and 22 days' notice of intended participation in the strike action must be given either individually or collectively (if represented by a labour union of which they are members). The Minister may render the notice of intended participation invalid by referring the dispute to the Industrial Court within 14 days (section 34 and Schedule 2, Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act).
In practice
On January 17 2019, the Makerere University vice chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, suspended Dr Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi, the chairperson of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), for alleged indiscipline and inciting staff. The others suspended earlier include Bennet Magara, the chairperson of the Makerere University Administrative Staff Association, and his general secretary Joseph Kalema, for alleged indiscipline and inciting staff.
The suspension of the trio followed disagreements between staff associations and the university administration over pending issues including salary enhancement.
Sam Lyomoki, the National Workers representative, said that the representatives were suspended not because of their poor performance in terms of service delivery, but for standing for the rights of workers in terms of salary enhancement and issues of irregularities at the University, among other concerns.
The joint Makerere University Staff Association has called for a university-wide staff strike demanding the reinstatement of their leaders. They demand an end to attacks on University associations and its staff members by the vice chancellor, and also that Dr Thomas Tayebwa and Bruce Balaba Kabaasa be removed from the University Council, saying their stay is irregular.
Members of Parliament representing workers have said they will petition the speaker over the suspension of the Makerere workers, but also meet with the MPs to lay strategies on how to challenge the irregularities at Makerere University.
On 21 October, over 80 workers of the Dutch-owned flower farm Royal Van Zanten have been treated over various health complications following exposure to poisonous chemicals at one of the greenhouses in Wakiso. According to the Uganda Horticultural Industrial Services Provider and Allied Workers Union (UHISPAWU) and the Ugandan Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Uganda), on the morning of 21 October, the farm managers sent a group of approximately 40 workers to cut flowers in a greenhouse that was disinfected with pesticide two days before they were permitted to do so by safety procedures, which require a minimum waiting period of five days. Even though the first group of workers was showing symptoms of serious intoxication (convulsive vomiting, acute headache and abdominal pain, severe skin and eye irritation etc.), the management sent another group of workers to continue the work. Those workers developed the same symptoms. Although heavily intoxicated, none of the workers were taken to a hospital and instead they were treated at the in-house clinic and some of them received treatment in a nearby clinic. Workers were mainly given painkillers and were later discharged without medical forms. The costs of all the invoices have been covered by Royal Van Zanten. Four workers received Shs 40,000 (around US$10) each to cover further medical costs. After workers were taken to the hospital – an action organised by UHISPAWU and FIDA-Uganda – they tested positive for chemical poisoning. Several workers were still hospitalised a month later.
Although the management of the farm issued a statement in which it referred to the meetings that were taking place between the company, the employees and representatives of the Ministry of Labour, at the same time it denied responsibility for the incident. The management argued that it was the workers that did not follow safety instructions and who entered the greenhouse without observing the safety period. They also claimed that all the required medical procedures and tests have been provided to the workers and that the results returned negative for any permanent damage from the incident.
The Ministry of Trade took the side of the company and refused to hear any workers’ complaints. The Ministry further announced that it would handle the matter jointly with the Ministry of Labour “to ensure that Uganda does not lose the market for her flowers abroad”.
According to UHISPAWU, at Royal Van Zanten workers are paid between Shs 100,000 (US$27) to Shs 200,000 (US$54) per month. Although exposed to dangerous chemicals on a daily basis, they are not provided with any protective gear apart from rubber boots and aprons. Incidents of reckless exposure are not uncommon – a similar incident took place a year ago and another took place at a Royal van Zanten location in Mukono ten days after the Wakiso incident. The management responded in a similar manner by blaming workers for handling the chemicals “irresponsibly” and not following instructions.
Arrests of trade unionists are not uncommon. Ezra Kanyana from the artists union and Basra Stephen from the horticulture unions have been arrested when they were demanding the introduction of a minimum wage. Demonstrations are often prohibited. For examples, on 1 May 2013 the leadership of the Central organization of Free Trade Unions (COFTU) and the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) were arrested during the May Day celebration when they were demanding a minimum wage. They were detained at Kampala Police Station for two days before being released on bail.
The National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) reported in November that it had petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Major General Kale Kayihura, over the working conditions of private security guards. Over 35 private security firms are registered with the police, many of them employing over 250 guards. The guards complained that conditions set out in collective bargaining agreements, including compensation for injuries and correct dismissal procedures, had not been respected. They also complained that in some cases employers deny security guards the right to join trade unions.
No public service unions, including medical staff and teachers, are able to negotiate their salaries and employment terms as these are fixed de facto by the government.