‘Every job is essential and deserves respect’ – Dr Sarah Khanakwa Namisindwa MP-to-be

Very warm greetings to you all my fellow Bamasaba, within and outside the country. Today, 1st May 2024, we pause to pay special tribute and recognize the important contributions of the hardworking Bamasaba world over – who empower our communities through their daily labour. We truly value and honour the amazing group of hardworking men and women who keep our communities running through their endless hard work which creates a habitable society we live in.

Without their dedication and regular efforts, our lives would not be effective and result-oriented. You deserve our respect, and appreciation, not just today, but every day. We, truly, are cognizant of the very difficult situations faced by many workers, including but not limited to laboring for extremely long hours per day – under unsafe practices, paid extremely little and subjected to a series of inhuman working conditions.

Today, our thoughts go to many of our unprivileged children as young as 5 to 10 years who undergo child labour on farms, domestic employment, and at mills – largely pushed by their socioeconomic vulnerabilities. As leaders, we strongly condemn child labour, as we encourage parents and guardians to engage in the ongoing government poverty alleviation programs as well as child protection programs such as Universal Primary Education. While the Ugandan Constitution prohibits forced labour and child labour, there are still major challenges, particularly in the large informal sector.

Sadly, according to the Uganda Labour Market Profile – 2022/2023, only about 6.1% of the Ugandan workforce is part of a labour union or association that can collectively bargain. We also continue to witness significant gender inequality, echoed in females’ poor education attainment leading to the gender gap at 38% in earnings. With such data, today we call upon our legislatures to fast-track the passing of the minimum wage bill in Uganda.

But, at the same time, we strongly remind Parliament that the proposed minimum wage set at UGX 130,000 (approximately USD 35) per month, is far below the living wage. Considerations should be made to align the minimum wage with the current living conditions and needs.

In the same spirit, today, I take this opportunity to appreciate the National Social Security Fund management and particularly the 11th Parliament for passing, the National Social Security Fund Act that gives individual informal workers access to the pension scheme.

Dear friends, it is our natural duty to keep our spirits high for the rights of workers and their safe conditions across all industries and occupations.

Thank you to all the essential workers, traders, and hardworking employees who continue to build our nation. You are all our heroes. Every job is essential and deserves respect! For God and My Country.

Happy Labour Day!