By Leilah Nakato
Workers in the tea sector across the country have appealed to the government and their employers to increase their pay as a measure to improve their welfare.
Tea sector workers told Netizen Posts that they are the least paid despite economic times affecting the entire world, which calls for a minimum wage.
Paddy Twesigomwe, one of the workers, said there is a need for better policies to ensure the welfare of tea workers.
“There is a need to respect labor and workers. As workers, we are asking for fair wages as an expression of appreciation for our labor. The economy is bad; the prices of commodities are high, but the wages are low,” he said.
Twesigomwe, also a workers’ leader, added, “We do not want strikes, but we believe in dialogue. We appeal to the government to put in place the tea policy to harmonize costs and revenues in the tea sector.”
Other plantation workers said that the herbicides used in plantations and the agrochemicals used are dangerous, especially to women, which calls for the use of safety gear. The workers said that there is a need to implement health and safety measures in plantations for the good of the workers.
“Workers should be given safety gear, and there must be facilities to protect workers from dangerous chemicals as they work for better quality tea,” he said.
The workers made the remarks while celebrating the belated labor day and the international tea day at Ankole Tea Estates Premises at Kyamuhunga in Bushenyi District.
Advocacy organizations, Solidaridad East Africa and Trust Africa, in partnership with the National Union of Plantation and Agricultural Workers, Uganda, organized the event with the view of increasing awareness about the benefits of the tea sector among the workers.
Alfred Mubangizi, the Solidaridad East Africa official, described the workers as the heart of the tea industry that needs to be looked after carefully if the industry is to survive.
“We pledge to continue working with the workers union, private sector, and government to create a sustainable and prosperous tea sector that benefits all stakeholders through supporting the creation of sound policies, facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogue platforms, and strengthening workers and farmers organizations,” he said.
Robert Balikenda, the human resources manager at McLeod Russell Uganda Limited, said that the company gives utmost importance to the hard work of every employee, believes in giving all employees equal rights, and that the workers are not taken for granted.
“The fact is that no company can flourish or even exist without labor.” Companies should ensure that, other than following the 8 hours of work, labor or employees are not discriminated against on the basis of tribe, race, gender, or disability and should be paid competitive wages or salaries,” he said.
Balikenda, however, observed that while the minimum wage is a legal wage for workers, there is a risk of creating unemployment as firms cannot afford to employ workers.
“Firms may become uncompetitive. In some cases, a higher minimum wage could push up costs, causing a firm to go out of business because they may not be able to afford wage costs. This might be a particular problem if the firm is competing in a global market and higher wage costs make them uncompetitive compared to low-wage countries,” he explained.
He said that the minimum wage as requested by the tea workers could cause cost-push inflation and a black market of labor, and that it could have a limited impact on relative poverty.
According to Balikenda, tea is a major crop across the world, employing millions of people, hence the need to celebrate labor day because, without labor, there is no tea, even when there is mechanization. About the lack of safety equipment, Mr. Balikenda blamed the lack of safety gear on theft among workers, whom he accused of selling them to outsiders.
While presiding at the event, Bushenyi DPC John Bosco Sserunjogi said that there is a need to celebrate and appreciate the workers because they are the engine of social-economic transformation in society.
He asked the workers to love and protect their jobs as well as minimize conflicts relating to payments for the good of society.
“We support the need for better policies, and we appeal for more processing of tea with additional value to ensure better prices for the benefit of workers,” said Sserunjogi, who represented the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Robert Atuhaire.