CHALLENGES FACING TRADE UNIONS IN KENYA

*CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION*
*1.1*
*Background of the study*
Employee relations consist of all those areas of
human resource management
that involve
management of relationships with employees-
directly or where trade unions
are
recognised (Bridgford and Sterling, 1991). The
relationship concerns terms
and
conditions of employment and other issues arising
from employment.
According to
Ferner and Hyman (1992), employee relations
practices include processes,
procedures
and channels of communication; the employment
policies and practices; the
development, negotiation and application of
formal systems, rules and
procedures for
collective bargaining, handling disputes and
regulating employment; and
policies and
practices for employee involvement and
communications.
A feature of the employee relations literature has
undergone extensive
change (Baglioni,
1990). Due *et al *(1991) observed that the last
decade witnessed large
scale movement in
the social, political, legal and economic climate of
many countries,
resulting in changes
in the nature of the relationship between
governments, businesses and trade
unions. The
transformation of the various sectors of the
economy has fundamental
consequences for
those working within them. According to Osbourne
and Gaebler (1992), forms
of
privatization, the adoption of quality management
systems, the
decentralization of service
delivery, the adoption of new accounting regimes,
and increasingly
individualized forms
of management impact upon the way people are
managed. Since the 1970s there
has been
a decline in trade union organization within the
Organization for Economic
Co-operation
and Development (OECD) countries, which is
causing some concern among trade
unions
(Bach and Della Rocca, 2000).
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2
*1.1.1 Employee relations in Kenya*
The origin of employee relations system in Kenya
is traced back to the
struggle for
independence, Trade unions’ participation in the
struggle for independence,
made them
be considered organizations that have the capacity
to organize people, a
capacity many
governments would wish to control and keep
checked. The presence of an
authoritarian
government has also affected the employee
relations system in Kenya, the
government
ensured that trade unions did not indulge in
“political activities”. The
unions were
controlled so as to prevent them from emerging as
a force in opposition to
the
government (Mutunga, 2006).
The core of employee relations is the ability of
management and unions to
negotiate
terms and conditions of employment relatively free
of state control or
intervention. In
Kenya this freedom has been relatively less with
the state exercising
control through the
Ministry of Labor and the industrial court. This
influence by government in
employee
relations has been prompted by the states
involvement in business and the
fact that the
state is the single largest employer.
*1.1.2 Trade unions*
A trade union is an organization of workers who
have joined together so as
to try to
improve their interest (Moraa 2006). A trade union
would try to improve
their members’
welfare and regulate the relationship between the
workers and employers.
According to
Cole, a trade union is an association of workers in
one or more
occupations. An
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3
association carried out mainly to advance their
members interests in
connection with their
daily work.
According to Moraa (2006), trade union movement
in Kenya started long before
independence and was involved in the fight
against colonialism. Trade
unionism became
little less than a crusade in Kenya after the II
world war. From the
hesitant beginning in
1950’s and nationalization action in the early
1950’s, to growth and
consolidation in the
1950’s and 1960’s, trade unions in Kenya have
paralleled and greatly
contributed to
nationalism and the realization of an independent
republic under majority
rule. During
the darkest days in the 1950’s it was the trade
union movement which
occupied the center
of the political stage.
According to Okumbe (2001) after Kenya became
independent, trade unions
struggled to
find their role in the new nation, the
disagreements within the trade union
movement
grew within Kenya Federations of Labor (KFL).
Moraa (2006) ascertains that
the recent
legislation and establishment of Central
Organization of Trade Unions has
substantially
restricted the independence of trade unions in
Kenya. Although there is
little government
intervention in the administration either of
Central Organization of Trade
Unions or
individual unions, there is significant government
control over both trade
union structure
and the settlement of industrial disputes through
the Ministry of Labor
(Okumbe, 2001).
There are various types of trade unions in Kenya
each representing a
particular group, for
instance; Craft Trade Union, these consist of skilled
workers who pursue
the same craft.
Originally unions were exclusively for worker who
had acquired their skills
through
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4
traditional apprenticeship like carpenters, masons
etc in Kenya we have
Amalgamated
Union of Kenya Metal Workers. Industrial Unions
which are organized in
particular
industries irrespective of craft, trade, occupational
skills or the grade
of the members. In
Kenya trade unions are industry based, they are
mostly organized on an
industry wide
basis, they include Kenya Chemical & Allied
Workers Union and Kenya Union of
Commercial, Food and Allied Workers. General
Unions, which bring together
all
categories of workers across a range of industries
regardless of craft,
industry or
occupation. They are mostly of these occupations
which cannot be easily
defined as
either craft or industrial like the Kenya Building,
Construction, Timber,
Furniture and
Allied Trades Employees Union. Occupational
Unions that are basically
concerned with
organizing technical, clerical, professional,
supervisory and managerial
staff separately
from other workers e.g. Banking Insurance and
Finance Union Kenya.
*1.1.3 Challenges facing trade unions*
There are many challenges facing trade unions in
their day to day
operations. Workers’
organizations are experiencing serious difficulties
almost everywhere and
are losing
members. Few countries have unionization rates
above 50 percent, while
others have less
than 20 percent of non-agricultural workers in
unions. The Kenyan economy
is largely
agricultural based and therefore the working class
has been small. This has
adversely
affected potential membership of unions and their
capacity to bargain with
employers on
equal terms.
(Mutunga 2006) contents that without job security
and with high
unemployment, the result of course is that labor is
cheaper and workers are
hired and
fired at will. Along with this, unions are
undermined, not to mention the
phenomenon of
more and more cases of gross violation of labor
rights and out right union
busting.
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The government and employers look down upon
trade unions and preconceive
them as
chaotic and irresponsible organizations whose
major aim is to disrupt
peace, order and
good governance, this perception attracts
government and employers into
affairs and
activities of trade unions and thus tempts the
government and employers to
control trade
unions activities. Political interference and
intimidation has been a
feature of the Kenya
industrial relations system. The activities of trade
unions have
occasionally attracted the
attention of the political establishments. At times
there has been no clear
difference
between trade union leadership and the political
leadership. Trade union
officials have at
times doubled as politicians and vice versa and this
had tended to be
prejudicial to trade
unionism. Ghai and McAuslan (1970) argue that the
legal status of Central
Organization
of Trade Unions is that of an independently
registered trade union
federation but actions
of the government have appeared at times to
assume it as an adjunct to the
administration.
Trade unions activities in Kenya have therefore not
been clearly divorced
from the
politics of the day.
Kenya has not been left out and has been affected
by globalization. Kenya
liberalized her
economy in 1994 and implemented structural
adjustment programmed prescribed
by the
World Bank and the international monetary fund.
Consequently, through the
Finance Act
No. 4 of 1994 an amendment was introduced to the
employment act. The
amendment
was on regulation of union involvement in
declaring workers redundant and
related
safeguards and procedures. This introduced the
concept of retrenchment
which the law
gives unions no role to play and the benefits
payable are left to the whims
of the
employer. One of the trade unions objectives is to
fight for job security
and workers
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benefits therefore; legislations such as amendment
No. 4 of 1994 that was
introduced
when Kenya liberalized her economy adversely
affect the role and
effectiveness of trade
unions.
The trade unions are increasingly faced with
financial constraints
emanating from the
following factors, among others: loss of members
as a result of
organizational
restructuring, leading to loss of revenue since trade
unions depend on
members’
contributions in order to undertake their
operations; splitting of the of
the trade unions,
for instance Kenya Union of Post Primary
Education Teachers from Kenya
Nations
Union of Teachers, thus reducing the financial base
from membership
contributions; and
mismanagement of funds by the union leaders
(Central Organization of Trade
Unions,
2009).
Interventions to the factors above include the
growing perception that
labor will have to
develop new strategies, including strategies that
complement local
organizing with
international campaigns (Tilly 1995). But it is less
clear what sorts of
international
campaigns will be the most effective. Several new
strategies are emerging
or evolving
from old strategies. Targeting multinational
corporations is an old
strategy but it may be
taking on new forms, particularly when combined
with consumer activism
(Anner 2001).
Codes of conduct and private monitoring
mechanisms have offered yet another
albeit
controversial venue (Fung, O’Rourke, and Sabel
2000). Experience has
demonstrated
that as with all organizations, trade unions are
sensitive to wider issues
and events,
particularly labor market changes and the impacts
of neo-liberal state
policies. Such
developments heralded a necessity for trade unions
to adopt measures of
organizational
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change, in order to identify means for reform and
revitalization. (Wills,
2001). According
to Hoque and Rahman (1999), because of the fact
that trade union movements
represent a
majority segment of the society, they contribute to
the socio-economic
development of
the country.
*1.1.4 Trade unions in Kenya*
There are 40 registered trade unions in Kenya;
with 32 of them being
affiliated to the
Central Organization of Trade Unions and have a
total membership of
400,000, they
include: Banking Insurance & Finance Union (K)
(BIFU), Transport & Allied
Workers
Union (TAWU), Railways Workers Union (RAWU),
Kenya Local Government Workers
Union (KLGWU) University Academic Staff Union
(UASU) etc, and Kenya National
Union of Teachers (KNUT), Union of Kenya Civil
Servants, and Kenya Union of
Post
Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) who are not
affiliates of Central
Organization of
Trade Unions. Central Organization of Trade
Unions was established in 1965
as the sole
national trade union federation, affiliated to the
International
Confederation of Free Trade
Unions (ICFTU) and represents some 300,000
workers. (Registrar of Trade
Unions 2010)
Of the eight ILO conventions only convention 87 on
freedom of association
has not been
ratified by Kenya. The Constitution of the Republic
of Kenya Chapter IV,
36. (I) states,
“Every person has the right to freedom of
association, which includes the
right to form,
join or participate in the activities of an
association of any kind”. The
Industrial Relations
Charter, executed by the Government, the Central
Organization of Trade
Unions
(COTU), and the Federation of Kenya Employers
(FKE), gives workers the
right to
engage in legitimate trade union organizational
activities; this is
regulated by The Labor
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Relations Act 2007 which regulates the formation
and management of trade
unions and
employer organizations.
*1.2*
*Statement of the problem*
Turner (1966) argued that despite the importance
of collective bargaining,
industrial
peace and harmony has been elusive as trade
union activities are met with
hostility,
retrenchment of workers has also become an
everyday practice; workers are
paid poorly
and work in poor conditions even though they are
unionized. Trade unions
have over the
years found external challenges of globalization,
increased international
competition,
technological change and the de-centralization of
collective bargaining.
Among the
consequences of such changes has been a marked
decline in union density
across most
industrialized societies (Undy, 2008). He observed
that various strategies
have been
adopted by trade unions, including mergers, in the
hope of improving union
behavior.
The activities of trade unions in Kenya are affected
by many factors both
internal and
external. These factors include national and
international laws and
policies of countries
of origin here the corporations operating in the
country come from. Trade
unions have to
adapt to the rapid changing global environment as
well as articulate
members interests, in
the face of challenges posed by national,
international laws and global
human resource
policies. The trade unions also have to manage
challenges posed by the
effects of
globalization and liberalization of the economy.
There have been few studies of an empirical nature
which sought to
determine the
challenges faced by trade unions and evaluated the
effectiveness of the
strategies used to
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address the challenges. Studies related to human
relations challenges in
Kenya that are
relevant to this research include those of Mutunga
(2006) investigated the
response of
trade unions to challenges posed by conditions of
work at the Export
Processing Zone.;
Gichira (2007) investigated the challenges of
globalization and their
impact on Kenya
airways; Chumo (2007) undertook a study on the
human resource challenges
arising from
use of temporary employees; a case study of Kenya
Power and Lighting
Company;
Thathi (2008) investigated the human resource
management challenges facing
Kenya
pipeline company in the implementation of
enterprise resource planning.
Njihia (2002)
carried out a survey of women’s participation in
trade unions in Kenya.
Machyo (2003)
undertook an analysis of women’s participation in
Trade Union leadership in
Kenya.;
Businienei (2005) undertook a study of the
moderating effects of Trade Union
membership on employee perceptions of job
security and fair treatment by
management
in the manufacturing industry in Kenya; None of
the above studies focused
on the
challenges facing trade unions in Kenya. This study
therefore seeks to
address the
knowledge gap.
*1.3*
*Objectives of the study*
(i)
To determine the challenges facing trade unions in
Kenya
(ii)
To establish the interventions to address the
challenges faced by trade
unions
in Kenya
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*1.4*
*Importance of the study*
It is hoped that the research findings of the
proposed study will be
beneficial to various
stakeholders, including the following:
(i)
The management of the various trade unions will
gain a better understanding
of
the challenges faced by trade unions in Kenya. On
the basis of the findings
of the
study, the leadership of the various trade unions
are expected to implement
measures that could address the identified
challenges from an informed
position
for the benefit of key stakeholders.
(ii)
The policy makers in the Ministry of Labor and
Human Resources, which is
charged with the responsibility of managing the
human resources will gain
insight
into the challenges faced by the trade unions in
Kenya and accommodate the
possible interventions that could be employed to
enhance the unions’
effectiveness in the policies to be formulated.
(iii)
The challenges facing trade unions in Kenya is an
area that is
understudied. The
proposed study is expected to make a significant
contribution to the
growing body
of knowledge in the area of trade unionism. It is
anticipated that the
findings will
be used as a source of reference by other
researchers.