May 20, 2023
“New Research Confirms Unions Are Critical to Protecting Workers’ Rights in Uganda”
A 2025 study by Makerere University researcher Pius Kitamirike has confirmed that labour unions play a significant role in advancing employment rights in Uganda, but significant gaps remain between legal provisions and actual implementation .
The study, titled “An analysis of the role of labour unions in the protection of employment rights: a case study of the Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU),” used a mixed-methods approach combining doctrinal legal research with interviews of 49 respondents, including teachers, union representatives, government officials, legal experts, and civil society organizations .
Key findings include:
- Uganda has a comprehensive legal framework for protecting employment rights, including constitutional guarantees, statutory protections, and international treaty obligations
- UNATU has achieved notable successes in securing salary increments, improving working conditions, and influencing policy development—particularly through the National Teachers’ Policy (2018)
- However, unions face substantial challenges, including limited financial resources, fragmented government systems, legal restrictions on essential services, and inadequate enforcement mechanisms for collective bargaining agreements
- The classification of education as an essential service creates constitutional tensions between workers’ right to strike and statutory limitations
Why This Matters for USRAWU Members:
The findings support USRAWU’s strategic objective of strengthening collective bargaining mechanisms
The research provides evidence-based justification for strong union membership and participation
It identifies concrete challenges that unions like USRAWU must address strategically
