Ei-iE

EI Affiliate

Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU)

Membership 86,000

Ratifications

C.87     Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) ratified 2005

C.98     Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) ratified 1963

C. 100 Equal Remuneration (1951) ratified 2005

C. 111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) (1958) ratified 2005

C. 144 Tripartite Consultations (1976) ratified 1994

C. 154 Collective Bargaining (1981) ratified 1990

Introduction

Uganda has enjoyed stable economic growth over the last decade and was not severely affected by the 2008 financial crisis. However, in 2012, the growth rate has declined and the country has suffered from exceptionally high inflation, estimated at 30%.  According to NOTU, one of the two national trade union centres, this high inflation is mainly due to weaker demand for exports, high international fuel prices, and low agricultural supplies as a result of poor weather conditions. [1]

Standards of education are poor and the primary school completion rate is only 25% and is dropping. Classroom size at primary level is estimated 83 pupils per class and the teacher pupil ratio is 1:60. [2]

Teacher pay in Uganda is exceptionally low, and the entry level salary is insufficient for a single persons’ basic subsistence. There are continuous problems over non-payment of wages, for example, back wages can be due in some cases for the last 6 months. There is an issue of “ghost teachers”, who are paid but never show in class rooms. When the government tried to address the problem, over 30,000 working teachers, including some school head teachers, were inexplicably deleted from the payroll.

Structure of UNATU

UNATU represents teaching staff at all levels from primary, secondary and university in public or government supported institutions. It was registered under the Trade Union Act (2000) after a merger of the Uganda Teachers’ Association (UTA) and the Uganda National Union of Teachers (UNUT). It has national wide structures starting at school level, and including sub-county, district, regional and national level. It has a national secretariat headed by the General Secretary, with 40 full time staff, of whom 20 are based at the regional secretariats in the 10 regions.  There is a 5 yearly Conference, a National Executive Council and regional, branch, sub-branch and school level committees.  The union constitution was amended in 2010 to take into account various structural changes proposed by the leadership. It has strong gender representation provisions.

There is a check-off system in place, following lobbying with the government, and dues amount to 1% of the basic salary. UNATU reports that there are problems as a result of delays in setting up the check-off system for new members and the deletion of teachers from the pay roll, because of administrative errors, which greatly affects the members, as well as union income.

Membership

Since 2008, membership of the union has been increasing steadily.

December 2008

December 2009

December 2010

December 2011

December 2012

69,300

77,992

79,069

81,301

83,000

Status of Teachers

Teachers working in public institutions in Uganda have pubic employee status. Primary school teachers are appointed by the District Service Commission and Secondary and post-secondary teachers are appointed by the Education Service Commission. The salary scale is established by the Ministry of Education and Sport, known as the teachers’ scheme of service.  Teacher salary increments are included as part of the annual budget adopted by Parliament. Salary payments are made by the Ministry of Public Service.

Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

Freedom of association and collective bargaining are constitutional rights.  Uganda adopted new labour legislation in 2006, with the Trade Unions Act and the Labour Disputes Arbitration and Settlement Act 2006. The Trade Unions Act provides for the right to organise and to bargain collectively of all workers, whether in the private or public sector, with the exception of the Armed Forces and the right to strike.  Under this legislation, it is a criminal offence to obstruct the right to organise. However, organising is still effectively prohibited in the Export Processing Zones. There is also a requirement to give 90 days’ notice of an intention to carry out industrial action.

The Labour Disputes Act provides for the fast resolution of labour disputes and elevates the Industrial Court to the status of the High Court. However, section 27 of the latter Act empowers the Minister of Labour to refer a dispute to the Industrial Court if either side does not comply with the recommendations of a board of inquiry, a procedure that is considered tantamount to compulsory arbitration. [3]

In 2008, the Public Service Act and the Public Negotiation and Disputes Settlement Act were adopted.  The latter provides for the establishment of a National Consultative and Negotiation Council with the mandate to consult, dialogue and negotiate terms and conditions of employment and other issues. However, it has taken a number of years to implement this legislation and the unions have needed to lobby and mobilise consistently, including taking industrial action.

In July 2011, UNATU began a series of strike actions in support of their demands and through the Citizen’s Action for Quality Education, presented a petition to the Parliament and President, which addressed a range of issues facing public education, including teachers’ pay.   An Inter-Ministerial Committee was eventually convened, and  the government agreed to a plan, whereby the salary increase would be  a total of 50% over a three year period (15%,20% and 15%.) The teachers had asked for a 100% salary increase, given the extremely low current levels and soaring inflation.  However, the government is not respecting all the provisions of the agreement, and although they said they would sign the agreement, they have not done so.

A recognition agreement was signed by 10 public sector trade unions in November 2011, although the Uganda Public Employees Union was excluded.  This ended an 18 year stalemate situation. The National Consultative and Negotiating Council was constituted after considerable pressure from the unions and long delays in August 2012.  On the government side, the Council members include the Ministry of Public Service, the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development, the Ministry of Education and Sport, and the Ministry of Local Government. UNATU has 2 members on the Council. However, there is as yet no collective agreement with any of the public sector trade unions.

James Tweheyo, General Secretary of UNATU reported in March 2013 that to date, there had only been two unfruitful meetings.  The first meeting had been the official inauguration, and the second meeting had been to “harmonise the arrangements”, although the unions had presented a list of issues for discussion.  “The government as an employer will use delaying tactics but we will mobiles our members to keep the pressure on. At the moment, it is not so much negotiation as coercion. ” [4]

The main issues for consultation and negotiation will be salary increments and special allowances for hardship postings and for science teachers, as well as delays in salary payments, unexplained deletions of teachers from the payroll and government contributions to the teachers’ savings and credit schemes.

Citizens’ Action for Quality Education

UNATU considers that  its relative success so far has been because  they have drawn up a well designed strategy and plan of action; used a rights-based framework for their demands; they have adopted  multi-stakeholder approach and because of the industrial action which took place in 2011.

The union has conducted mass awareness campaigns on the key issues concerning terms and conditions of employment and the right to collective bargaining, through printing leaflets, through the media such as local radios and through training courses for union leaders and the membership. The purpose of   this mass awareness is also to build confidence and minimize the fear factor. They have also developed a communication strategy to support the quick flow of information to all union members and the wider public.  They use a bulk SMS texting system which is relatively cheap and very effective.

As part of the coalition that forms the Citizen’s Action campaign, UNATU is viewed as a key education stakeholder, putting the child at the forefront. UNATU has strong partners through the campaign, such as Action Aid International Uganda, Uganda Joint Christian Council, the Uganda Muslim Education Association and the Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda, as well as legal resource centres. In this way, when UNATU puts forward issues related to teachers, the coalition as a whole is willing to support them.

In 2010, the Ministry of Education decided to introduce a system of “performance contracts”, which were very one-sided. UNATU was able to turn the issue to its advantage by arguing that while teachers had duties and responsibilities, so did the government and that the contracts should become support mechanisms for improving education and that they should be consulted with other stakeholders.

The union demands have been backed by research using careful analysis of the budget, such as the proportion allocated to education compared to other sectors, and the proportion of the GDP allocated to education, and by providing comparisons from other countries and unions.

The union has also carried out lobbying with the relevant Parliamentary committees, and submitted petitions to parliament.  There is a cross-party “quality education forum” in Parliament, and the Speaker of Parliament is the Patron.  This forum is an important body as it has the potential to influence budgetary decisions.

The government has carried out acts of intimidation, such as demotions, unjustified transfers to remote areas, and, on occasion, imprisonment of union leaders.  The government has also promoted the establishment of a parallel union, and placed negative propaganda about the union in the media. Their main tactic is to delay giving responses.

[1] Report on Uganda Decent Work Country Programme by Pedison Bbaale, 4th October  2012, submitted during the Trade Union Training on the Promotion of Decent work 8-19th October 2012, ILO Training Centre, Turin

[2] Statistics provided by UNATU

[3] ITUC Annual Survey 2012 Uganda

[4] Interview with James Tweheyo, General Secretary UNATU, 7 March 2012