Across the globe, this year’s celebrations come at a time when many companies are scaling down operations, resulting in lay-offs, and people being pushed into the informal economy.
Tanzanian workers today join their counterparts worldwide in celebrating May Day, Labour Day and/or International Workers’ Day. It is a day when workers are expected to have a day off, meet and network at events organised by their workers’ unions.
But the most important thing about today is the hope among workers – in both the public service and private sector – that a platform like this provides an opportunity for their concerns to be addressed.
In the run-up to this very important day, the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (Tucta) outlined six priorities that employers must tackle amid the prevailing challenges in the labour market. Among them is the demand for a review of the minimum wage; the harmonisation of Pay As You Earn (Paye) and dialogue on a new pension formula.
There is also the issue of arrears, the workers’ right to participate in union matters and voluntary agreements among workers across the country.
Granted, some of these issues call for immediate action.
Across the globe, this year’s celebrations come at a time when many companies are scaling down operations, resulting in lay-offs, and people being pushed into the informal economy.
Of late, we have been witnessing this in Tanzania, too. It’s a period of uncertainty and anxiety for the worker. Clearly, the situation obtaining in the labour industry is a result of a myriad of variables. We cannot use this day to point fingers at each other.
This is why we call on all the major stakeholders, government included, to protect workers’ interests.
Workers must also be protected from unfair labour practices, and assurances must be given that retrenched workers get their full benefits.
Resolve Mara-Serengeti saga
The government has made the right diplomatic move by initiating talks with Kenyan authorities aimed at stopping the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Mara River. The narrative, which dates back to 2016, revolves around Kenya’s plans to build two dams on the Mara River, which, experts warn, run the risk of completely drying the ecosystem downstream and affecting bird nesting on Lake Natron in Tanzania.
The Serengeti-Maasai Mara ecosystem is home to the world’s eighth wonder in the form of wildebeest migration. The Mara River lies across the path of that migration and is considered the lifeline of millions of wild animals in the Serengeti ecosystem and multi-million-dollar tourism industry in both countries.
The ecosystem around that area is now facing its biggest threat yet as Kenya and Tanzania scramble for its waters. Conservationists in Tanzania have warned that the Kenya dams pose a direct threat to the Serengeti and may cause irreversible damage to the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem.
Being signatories to the EAC Treaty, which calls for promotion of sustainable utilisation of the natural resources of the partner states, Dialogue is an amicable resolution method that will keep diplomatic ties intact amidst the scramble for natural resources in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem.
