The The Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Honourable Jean-François Chaumière inaugurated a seminar today, organized by the ILO’s Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV), in collaboration with ITUC-Africa (International Trade Union Confederation Africa) the NTUC, the MTUC and the MLC. The objective of the seminar is to reduce the multiplicity of trade unions in Mauritius and foment unity in this movement.
In his address, Minister Chaumière presented disturbing statistics regarding trade unionism in Mauritius. He said: “a total of only 102,901 workers are organised in as many as 338 Trade Unions in a total active labour force of some 544,800 – which means about 18% unionised workers – a reasonable rate as compared to many countries. While the rate of unionisation in the Public Sector is about 54%, it is shocking to learn that only 11% of workers in the Private Sector are unionised. However, what is more astounding is the number of unions representing such a small workforce. 338 trade unions, out of which we have as many as 76 unions to-date with less than 30 members – far below the membership requirement for a trade union to continue to exist under the Employment Relations Act.” The Minister spoke of the need to unify these movements for the benefit of the Mauritian workforce.
In his address, Mr. Dan Cunniah, the ILO-ACTRAV director explained his bureau’s endeavour to help the revamping of the Mauritian trade union movement. He underlined the issues of multiplicity and state subsidies as ones that much needed to be addressed. He also expressed support for state initiatives regarding the Decent Work Country Programme and the Trade Union Trust Fund.
The presidents of the confederations represented at this seminar also stated their will to strengthen trade unionism in our country, expressing concern however about the current ageing trend in the movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment