The Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, which is a representation of all trade Unions in Africa, will have its 42nd General Council meeting this year in Nairobi hosted by Central Organization of Trade Unions in Kenya.
Through this meeting, Cotu aims at creating awareness on the need for decent work for all Kenyan workers. In addition, Cotu wishes that every worker in Kenya will be conscious of decent work and start promoting and implementing decent work for all.
Further, through empowering all workers, especially women, Cotu will take up initiatives in advancing social justice and decent work, and nationally popularise decent work for all.
The labour movement in Kenya needs to emulate the International Labour Organization in regulating the economy and the society at the national and international level and to elaborate standards on work and employment, social protection and social dialogue.
Further, we must move beyond the ILO and implement the International Labour standards at the national level to make sure every worker in Kenya is enjoying social justice and have access to decent work.
The tenets of the Decent Work Agenda are embedded in Chapter Four of the Constitution also known as the Bill of Rights. The main issues addressed include economic and social rights, including social security, freedom of association, labour relations, equality and freedom from discrimination, and specific application of rights for youth, children and people living with disabilities. All these rights need to be safeguarded and implemented to create decent work and for the well being of all workers.
The government needs to be at the forefront in improving the conditions of work in our country and together with the Federation of Kenya Employers and Cotu facilitate decent work for all Kenyans.
The Decent work in Kenya conversation is not only limited to the government. It is our mandate as Cotu to speak for the workers locally and internationally. We are thus hosting other African labour leaders in a conversation towards raising the standards and working conditions for our members and for all African workers.
Kenya has the largest economy in East Africa and for us to attain decent work in the future, we are focusing on training and apprenticeship for youths.
An apprenticeship is a method of training new employees of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job, work-based training and regularly some accompanying study. This is through our cooperation with the National Industrial Training Institute for examinations and certification for those who train at work.
We have programmes for youths in apprenticeship to empower and give them a chance to compete in a healthy way with those trained in schools. Further, for Cotu to facilitate decent work for all, we are focusing on youths through training them on skills that enable them access jobs and start businesses with a view to assist them to create jobs for personal growth and development.
There are many challenges in creating decent work for all. Just like in many African countries Kenya’s economy is experiencing slower growth, widening inequalities, and not enough jobs to keep up with a growing labour force. Unemployment is a major challenge for every country represented by OATUU.
Creating decent work for all Kenyans requires sustained economic growth matched with higher levels of productivity and technological innovation. Thus one priority for OATUU is encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation, while working hard to eradicate forced labour, slavery and human trafficking.
The critical goal of OATUU meeting is Nairobi is to train and formulate strategies that will help every member, including Cotu, to achieve full and productive employment, and decent work, for all.
African trade union organisations have been participating in the discussions and debates on decent work. African social partners have also participated in the discussions on creating decent work through social protection, occupational safety and health. Led by Cotu, African trade union centres are advancing social justice through promoting decent work for a brighter future. This is through fighting for promotion of freedom of association, workers’ rights, social dialogue and collective bargaining, and issues in connection with the future of work especially activities leading to the realisation of decent work for a brighter future.
Francis Atwoli, is the Cotu secretary general
