- He said that the regional unions will operate like county workers' unions.
- The secretary general said the union has drafted and forwarded to COTU and the government a number of reforms that they feel should be implemented.
Image: LABAN WALLOGA
The Dock Workers' Union has called for the creation of semi-autonomous regional workers' unions across the country to ensure their issues are solved in time and amicably.
Union secretary general Simon Sang on Sunday said the arrangement will help the workers get their issues attended to in time, without unnecessarily escalating issues.
He said the regional unions will operate like county workers' unions.
Sang was speaking to the Star at Tononoka grounds on the sidelines of this year's Labour Day celebrations in Mombasa.
The secretary general said the union has drafted and forwarded to COTU and the government a number of reforms they feel should be implemented.
"The government, the workers through the union, and employers should work together as equal partners as per the ILO convention 198," he said.
Sang said the workers would like to see the industrial relations in countries such as Singapore implemented in Kenya.
"Singapore has the best industrial relations arrangements in the world. They don't even go on strike, not because the law forbids them, but because their issues are solved within 10 days. That's what we intend to do with Kenya," he said.
Sang added that Kenya has sufficient laws that protect the workers, chief of them being the constitution of Kenya, but their implementation has been a problem.
He singled out some private companies and organisations which he said intimidate their employees.
"We want to ensure the workers are given their rights without any intimidation. At the moment, private organisations intimidate workers by not allowing them to join unions," he said.
Sang regretted that Kenya lacks pro-labour political parties, unlike countries in Europe.
Consequently, the union is going to be part of the politics of Mombasa and the nation to support politicians who are going to take the interests of workers to Parliament.
Sang said the dock workers will support Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance, which he said has proven to be pro-workers.
"We have looked at the different parties of this nation, and we see that Azimio is the only viable one that is able to cooperate and support workers," he said.
"We saw what Duale did about a year ago. He sponsored a bill to Parliament which sought to disallow workers from going on strike. Those are some of the indicators to show who we can partner with," he said.