KAMPALA: Uganda's female trade union leaders are pushing forward on ensuring women workers in the country have greater empowerment and are not faced with threatening situations in the workplace. As part of the National Organization of Trade Unions (NOTU), the women leaders are demanding labor laws upheld in the country. The group argued that despite numerous labor laws already on the books in the country, few employees and employers in the country understand and implement them, leaving women facing workplace struggles. The major labor laws that outline the rights of workers at the work place include the Workers Compensation Act 2000, the Minimum Wages Act 2000, the Employment Act 2006, the Labor Union Arbitration and Settlement Act 2006 and the Occupational Safety Act 2006. The labor union leaders said that the Ugandan Constitution, established in 1995, guarantees labor rights, “including freedom of association” and “the right to join trade unions of their choice for purposes of promoting and protecting their economic and social interests.” Leading the charge is chairperson of NOTU's womens committee, Kim Agnes Atwooki, who said that since most strikes going on “are affecting female workers, especially those in the teaching sector and the health sector, where most nurses are female, there is need for trade union leaders to intervene for purposes of helping these workers.” The move to push women's labor laws and regulation comes as a spat of sexual harassment in the workplace has left many women workers frustrated that the government is not doing enough to protect their rights. Member of Parliament for Workers Rosemary Senabulya, when presenting a paper titled “Working Women's Rights,” said while increased access to employment has provided new economic and social opportunities for poor women in Uganda, the jobs they occupy remain unregulated and unstable. According to her, “there is denial of their rights to regular pay and indifference in equal pay for equal work done as well as unsafe and hazardous working environment, including sexual harassment, by male counterparts.” BM
