UNIT 111

TRADE UNIONISM AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

A trade union, also referred to as labour union is an organization of workers who have come
together to protect their own interests bargain for better conditions of work.

Karl Marx described trade unions thus; - “...the value of labour-power constitutes the conscious
and explicit foundation of the trade unions, whose importance for the working class can scarcely
be overestimated. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages
below the level that is traditionally maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say,
they wish to prevent the price of labour-power from falling below its value”.

Therefore, a trade union is an organization consisting predominantly of employees, the principal

activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its
members.

Trade union members are normally desirous of achieving common goals. Some of these goals
include but not limited to:

a. Protecting the integrity of its trade

b. Improving safety standards
c. Achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement
d. Increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work
e. Better working conditions

History

The origins of trade unions can be traced back to 18th century Britain, where the rapid expansion
of industrial society then taking place, drew women, children, rural workers and immigrants into
the work force in large numbers and in new roles. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour
spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, and would later be an
important arena for the development of trade unions.

Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th
century when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England. This law
enacted in England in 1349 was repressive of the workers’ rights. This law was aimed at the
following:

a. It fixed wages
b. Imposed price controls
c. Required all those under the age of 60 to work
d. Prohibited the enticing away of another's servants among others

As a result, smaller associations of workers started appearing, but these remained irregular and
short lived because of the hostility they encountered from employers and government groups. The
government groups were particularly unhappy because they viewed these groupings as forms of
political and economic activism and, if not checked, would form platform for political dissent.

As collective bargaining and early worker unions grew with the onset of the Industrial Revolution,
the government began to clamp down on what it saw as the danger of popular unrest at the time of
the war. In 1799, the Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions and collective
bargaining by British workers. Although the unions were subject to often severe repression until
1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London. Workplace militancy had also
manifested itself as Luddism and had been prominent in struggles such as the 1820 rising in
Scotland, in which 60,000 workers went on a general strike, which was soon crushed. Sympathy
for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, although the Combination Act
1825 severely restricted their activity.

By the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations
were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the
Philanthropic Society, founded in 1818 in Manchester. The latter name was to hide the
organization's real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal.

Trade Union Formation in Uganda

The development of Unions in Uganda can be traced as early as the 1930’s when the first trade
union was formed. The Trade Unions which were formed then were used for political gains in a
bid to fight colonialists and the Buganda Government Kingdom. Therefore, the basic functions of
the trade unions were taken over by overtly political organisation “Scott, 10: 1966). Despite the
above, however, the economic depression gave a fertile ground for the normal functioning of trade
unions plus of course the external influence.

The early unions were formed on racial premise. The Asians who were skilled as compared to the
Africans took on the “juicy jobs”. Trade unions developed in Uganda from 1938 although the
ideas about trade unionism had been developed as a result of the building of the Uganda Railway.

The first trade union called the “Uganda Motor Drivers’ Association”, was formed in 1938 by Mr.
James Kivu being assisted by Mr. Ignatius K. Musaazi who later became so prominent in Uganda
and Buganda’s politics. The Union was duly registered with the Labour Department but it rarely
functioned.

The development of true trade unionism commenced between 1952 and 1960’s, being assisted and
guided by the liberal regime of Sir Andrew Cohen, and then by a depression of agricultural prices.

Trade Union Ordinance, 1950 and 1960

This was the beginning of real trade unionism when it would be separated from politics. The
Ordinance was basically to provide trade disputes settlement machinery. Both parties (i.e.
employers and employees) had to notify the labour commissioner of a trade dispute and the
Commissioner had to appoint a conciliator if he was convinced that there is a problem.

The procedure would be that he/she first discussed with each side separately and then meet both
sides together at a meeting under his/her chairmanship. But if the dispute remained unresolved,
after fourteen days of conciliation, the Labour Commissioner was empowered to offer arbitration.
And if such an offer was accepted by both parties, he/she would advise the Minister of Labour
(now Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development) to appoint either a single arbitrator or
an arbitration tribunal including representatives of both sides. The Minister had the power to
intervene in case there was undue delay to accept arbitration. In case the arbitration tribunal was
instituted, it was required where practicable, to pass its verdict within 28 days.

The above procedures are still followed (in principle) up to this day, the only addition is that once
all these have been exhausted, the only option is to seek a redress with the industrial court which
is the final arbiter.
The 1952 Uganda Trade Union Ordinance had the following provisions:

a. General Workers’ Unions were prohibited but instead allowed were industrial unions
b. Union funds had to be supervised by the Government
c. All Unions’ donations had to go through Government
d. No Union was to have political affiliation
e. Ugandans were free to form political parties
f. Ugandans were to form co-operative societies.

Purpose/ Functions of Trade Unions

a. Secure fair wages to workers.

b. Safeguard security of tenure and improve conditions of service.
c. Enlarge opportunities for promotion and training.
d. Improve working and living conditions.
e. Provide for educational, cultural and recreational facilities.
f. Co-operate in and facilitate technological advance by broadening the understanding of
workers on its underlying issues.
g. Promote identity of interests of workers with their industry.
h. Offer responsive co-operation in improving levels of production and productivity, discipline
and high standards of quality and
i. Promote individual and collective welfare.

Types of Trade Unions

1. Craft Union: These consist of workers of the same skill/ craft across industries e.g. all
secretaries in an organization.
2. Occupational Unions: These bring together workers of the same occupation e.g. the
clerical/professional/supervisory/managerial employees separately from others.
3. Industrial Unions: These bring together all employees in a specific industry irrespective of
their skills or occupation.
4. General Unions: These bring together any kind of worker regardless of occupation or level of
skill.
5. White Collar Union: These draw their members from clerical and administrative employees.
White collar unions are some of the most vibrant and successful unions e.g. KYUASA,
MUASA etc.

EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATIONS
An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of
manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labour. Employers' organizations seek to
coordinate the behavior of their member companies during negotiations with trade unions or
government bodies.
Historically, employers' associations were of two general types: those consisting only of employers
in a single trade or industry, or those bringing together employers from across a broad spectrum
of industries on a local, regional, or national basis.

As was the case for unions, the first employers' organizations emerged in large industrial cities
during the first half of the 19th century. Both unions and employers' organizations tended to be
localized. As unions began to proliferate and to gain strength in negotiations over wages and
conditions through the use of strike actions, employers began to unite in order to restrict wage rates
and otherwise fetter the emerging organized labor movement.

Objectives of Employers’ Associations

1. Promote and protect the interest of employers engaged in industry, trade and commerce against
the unfavorable trade unionism.
2. Study, analyse and disseminate information relating to labour policy, labour management
relations, collective bargaining etc.
3. Liase with Union government and initiate steps that are representative and legislative in nature.
4. Obtain data on wages and conditions of work in industries attached to them. Come out with
surveys, research-based reports on issues of importance to both labour and management.
5. Deal with safety and health t work place and working environment.
6. Initiate steps to improve public image and improve public relations.
7. Educate the public regarding the character, scope, importance and needs of trade, industry and
commerce represented by members.
8. Organize and unite employers in the association through membership development.

Key Functions of Employers’ Associations

1. Articulate members’ concerns as a unified force to attract policy makers’ attention.

2. Meet regularly with decision-makers to discuss key policy issues and establish channels of
communication and close working relationships with their staff.
3. Provide sound policy-relevant information to policy-makers.
4. Engage in proactive and reactive advocacy to help set the policy agenda by voicing concerns
and proposing specific policies as opposed to merely reacting to proposals on the table.
5. Monitor implementation of advocated policies to ensure that they are administered fairly,
consistently, and swiftly, thereby strengthening the rule of law.
6. Publicize successes to brand Employer Organisations as active agents of positive change.

Revision Qns
1. (a) Identify and explain the rights of Trade Unions
(b) Explain the responsibilities of Trade Unions and their members
2. The relevance of Trade Unions in developing countries has been reduced to agitation for better
wages for members.
3. With use of examples, account for the diminishing role of Trade Unions in your country
4. Trade Unions are a necessary evil. Discuss
 UNIT 111
TRADE UNIONISM AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

A trade union, also referred to as labour union is an organization of workers who have come
together to protect their own interests bargain for better conditions of work.

Karl Marx described trade unions thus; - “...the value of labour-power constitutes the conscious
and explicit foundation of the trade unions, whose importance for the working class can scarcely
be overestimated. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages
below the level that is traditionally maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say,
they wish to prevent the price of labour-power from falling below its value”.

Therefore, a trade union is an organization consisting predominantly of employees, the principal

activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its
members.

Trade union members are normally desirous of achieving common goals. Some of these goals
include but not limited to:

a. Protecting the integrity of its trade

b. Improving safety standards
c. Achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement
d. Increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work
e. Better working conditions

History

The origins of trade unions can be traced back to 18th century Britain, where the rapid expansion
of industrial society then taking place, drew women, children, rural workers and immigrants into
the work force in large numbers and in new roles. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour
spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, and would later be an
important arena for the development of trade unions.

Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th
century when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England. This law
enacted in England in 1349 was repressive of the workers’ rights. This law was aimed at the
following:

a. It fixed wages
b. Imposed price controls
c. Required all those under the age of 60 to work
d. Prohibited the enticing away of another's servants among others

As a result, smaller associations of workers started appearing, but these remained irregular and
short lived because of the hostility they encountered from employers and government groups. The
government groups were particularly unhappy because they viewed these groupings as forms of
political and economic activism and, if not checked, would form platform for political dissent.

As collective bargaining and early worker unions grew with the onset of the Industrial Revolution,
the government began to clamp down on what it saw as the danger of popular unrest at the time of
the war. In 1799, the Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions and collective
bargaining by British workers. Although the unions were subject to often severe repression until
1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London. Workplace militancy had also
manifested itself as Luddism and had been prominent in struggles such as the 1820 rising in
Scotland, in which 60,000 workers went on a general strike, which was soon crushed. Sympathy
for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, although the Combination Act
1825 severely restricted their activity.

By the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations
were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the
Philanthropic Society, founded in 1818 in Manchester. The latter name was to hide the
organization's real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal.

Trade Union Formation in Uganda

The development of Unions in Uganda can be traced as early as the 1930’s when the first trade
union was formed. The Trade Unions which were formed then were used for political gains in a
bid to fight colonialists and the Buganda Government Kingdom. Therefore, the basic functions of
the trade unions were taken over by overtly political organisation “Scott, 10: 1966). Despite the
above, however, the economic depression gave a fertile ground for the normal functioning of trade
unions plus of course the external influence.

The early unions were formed on racial premise. The Asians who were skilled as compared to the
Africans took on the “juicy jobs”. Trade unions developed in Uganda from 1938 although the
ideas about trade unionism had been developed as a result of the building of the Uganda Railway.

The first trade union called the “Uganda Motor Drivers’ Association”, was formed in 1938 by Mr.
James Kivu being assisted by Mr. Ignatius K. Musaazi who later became so prominent in Uganda
and Buganda’s politics. The Union was duly registered with the Labour Department but it rarely
functioned.

The development of true trade unionism commenced between 1952 and 1960’s, being assisted and
guided by the liberal regime of Sir Andrew Cohen, and then by a depression of agricultural prices.

Trade Union Ordinance, 1950 and 1960

This was the beginning of real trade unionism when it would be separated from politics. The
Ordinance was basically to provide trade disputes settlement machinery. Both parties (i.e.
employers and employees) had to notify the labour commissioner of a trade dispute and the
Commissioner had to appoint a conciliator if he was convinced that there is a problem.

The procedure would be that he/she first discussed with each side separately and then meet both
sides together at a meeting under his/her chairmanship. But if the dispute remained unresolved,
after fourteen days of conciliation, the Labour Commissioner was empowered to offer arbitration.
And if such an offer was accepted by both parties, he/she would advise the Minister of Labour
(now Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development) to appoint either a single arbitrator or
an arbitration tribunal including representatives of both sides. The Minister had the power to
intervene in case there was undue delay to accept arbitration. In case the arbitration tribunal was
instituted, it was required where practicable, to pass its verdict within 28 days.

The above procedures are still followed (in principle) up to this day, the only addition is that once
all these have been exhausted, the only option is to seek a redress with the industrial court which
is the final arbiter.
The 1952 Uganda Trade Union Ordinance had the following provisions:

a. General Workers’ Unions were prohibited but instead allowed were industrial unions
b. Union funds had to be supervised by the Government
c. All Unions’ donations had to go through Government
d. No Union was to have political affiliation
e. Ugandans were free to form political parties
f. Ugandans were to form co-operative societies.

Purpose/ Functions of Trade Unions

a. Secure fair wages to workers.

b. Safeguard security of tenure and improve conditions of service.
c. Enlarge opportunities for promotion and training.
d. Improve working and living conditions.
e. Provide for educational, cultural and recreational facilities.
f. Co-operate in and facilitate technological advance by broadening the understanding of
workers on its underlying issues.
g. Promote identity of interests of workers with their industry.
h. Offer responsive co-operation in improving levels of production and productivity, discipline
and high standards of quality and
i. Promote individual and collective welfare.

Types of Trade Unions

1. Craft Union: These consist of workers of the same skill/ craft across industries e.g. all
secretaries in an organization.
2. Occupational Unions: These bring together workers of the same occupation e.g. the
clerical/professional/supervisory/managerial employees separately from others.
3. Industrial Unions: These bring together all employees in a specific industry irrespective of
their skills or occupation.
4. General Unions: These bring together any kind of worker regardless of occupation or level of
skill.
5. White Collar Union: These draw their members from clerical and administrative employees.
White collar unions are some of the most vibrant and successful unions e.g. KYUASA,
MUASA etc.

EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATIONS
An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of
manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labour. Employers' organizations seek to
coordinate the behavior of their member companies during negotiations with trade unions or
government bodies.
Historically, employers' associations were of two general types: those consisting only of employers
in a single trade or industry, or those bringing together employers from across a broad spectrum
of industries on a local, regional, or national basis.

As was the case for unions, the first employers' organizations emerged in large industrial cities
during the first half of the 19th century. Both unions and employers' organizations tended to be
localized. As unions began to proliferate and to gain strength in negotiations over wages and
conditions through the use of strike actions, employers began to unite in order to restrict wage rates
and otherwise fetter the emerging organized labor movement.

Objectives of Employers’ Associations

1. Promote and protect the interest of employers engaged in industry, trade and commerce against
the unfavorable trade unionism.
2. Study, analyse and disseminate information relating to labour policy, labour management
relations, collective bargaining etc.
3. Liase with Union government and initiate steps that are representative and legislative in nature.
4. Obtain data on wages and conditions of work in industries attached to them. Come out with
surveys, research-based reports on issues of importance to both labour and management.
5. Deal with safety and health t work place and working environment.
6. Initiate steps to improve public image and improve public relations.
7. Educate the public regarding the character, scope, importance and needs of trade, industry and
commerce represented by members.
8. Organize and unite employers in the association through membership development.

Key Functions of Employers’ Associations

1. Articulate members’ concerns as a unified force to attract policy makers’ attention.

2. Meet regularly with decision-makers to discuss key policy issues and establish channels of
communication and close working relationships with their staff.
3. Provide sound policy-relevant information to policy-makers.
4. Engage in proactive and reactive advocacy to help set the policy agenda by voicing concerns
and proposing specific policies as opposed to merely reacting to proposals on the table.
5. Monitor implementation of advocated policies to ensure that they are administered fairly,
consistently, and swiftly, thereby strengthening the rule of law.
6. Publicize successes to brand Employer Organisations as active agents of positive change.

Revision Qns
1. (a) Identify and explain the rights of Trade Unions
(b) Explain the responsibilities of Trade Unions and their members
2. The relevance of Trade Unions in developing countries has been reduced to agitation for better
wages for members.
3. With use of examples, account for the diminishing role of Trade Unions in your country
4. Trade Unions are a necessary evil. Discuss