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Trade unions should get back on their feet

COTU Secretary-General Francis Atwoli. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

The central function of labour unions is to represent, protect and champion the interests and aspirations of workers. Unions in actual fact are a major component of the system of modern industrial relations.

However, the situation in Kenya is different. Non-functioning unions have left over 15 million workers in the informal sector and three million in the formal sector to the whims of the government and rogue employers. The capacity of trade unions in representing workers and transforming the workforce today is questionable because most of them have been cannibalised by State organs and employers.

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