By Simon Kasyate & Lominda Afedraru
Oct 22, 2003 - Monitor
| KAMPALA - Pandemonium broke out yesterday morning inside the Tri-Star Apparel company premises in Bugolobi after some 600 female employees laid down the tools.
The girls refused to turn up for work and barricaded themselves inside their dormitories. Some of the girls that The Monitor was able to speak to said they were striking to protest the low salaries and poor working conditions that they are subjected to, including beatings. The girls also claimed that they were being forced to share dormitories with men who are being brought in among the new recruits. One of the newcomers, Mr Alex Ahabwe, 24, confirmed that they had been sharing a dormitory with the girls since they arrived on October 14. The strike began yesterday when an accounts assistant, Ms Molly Nantisa, was sacked after she leaked information that some 50 girls were going to be sacked. The girls, who are paid Shs 80,000 a month, allege that other workers were being brought in from Nytil in Jinja and were going to be paid half of that amount. Nantisa told The Monitor that a story was fabricated about her misappropriating Shs 46,100 before she was sacked. When word of the impending sacking spread, the girls decided to go on strike by barricading themselves in their dormitories. Officials from the Ministry of Labour, the National Organisation of Trade Unions, the Federation of Uganda Employers turned up at the complex yesterday. However, the team, which was led by Workers' MP Charles Bakkabulindi and the Commissioner for Labour, Dr David Ogaram, was initially denied entry into the premises. They later spoke briefly to the managing director, Mr V. Kananathan, over the phone but they said the company official had declined to meet them. However, Mr Bakkabulindi ordered police to arrest one of the supervisors for allegedly beating an employee. The supervisor, only identified as Kumariake, was taken to Central Police Station where she recorded a statement. The managers of Tri-Star Apparels were not available to make a comment. The factory was set up by government in conjunction with a Sri Lankan company to It is not clear how the strike will affect the company because good working conditions are one of the pre-requisites for countries benefiting from Agoa. |
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
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