 |
Kenya 1 (Monica Musau) |
| Report: Session 1 & 2 |
[Pilot 2 homepage] [Discussion] [Study Circles] [Help]
[Prepatory meeting] [Session1]
[Session 2] [Session 3] [Session 4] [Session 5] [Session 6]
THE INTERNATIONAL STUDY CIRCLE PROGRAMME
16TH MARCH 1998 -FIRST STUDY CIRCLE MEETING
OF THE SECOND I.S.C. PILOT PROGRAMME
The first session started at 5.00 p.m.
ATTENDANCE
- Francisca Wambua
- Emily Latan
- Emily Opini
- Naomi Mulee
- Sarah Munguti
- Benedicta Kilonzo
- Monica Musau
- Michael Otieno
- Amina Shabani
- Nkongoli Lagwida
ACTIVITIES
Getting to know the other study circles
We did not get the introduction from the other members of the
International Study Circle in other countries
- Structural adjustment programmes imposed by the World Bank and
the IMF which has resulted in (Workplace)
- Abrupt retrenchments
- Unplanned retirements
- Imposed conditions on grants and loans to the Government
- Rampant unemployment
- Weakened the Trade Unions Representations
- Organised labour is non-existent
- High taxation
- Privation of public institutions and facilities
- Increase in psychological disorders
- General ignorance of local laws by global investors
COMMUNITY
- Pollution of the environment
- High unemployment
- Increased crime rate
- Increased numbers of idlers engage in riots and Civil
disobedience
- Prostitution and drug abuse trafficking
- Increase in the number of street children due to lack of
parental care
- Increased poverty due to early and unplanned
retirements/retrenchment
- Increased birth rate due to poor living conditions and poor
housing
- Waste dumping and environmental pollution
SOCIETY
- Civil disobedience (increased
- High crime rate
- Increased alcoholism
- Increased incidences of diseases
- Increased mortality rate
- Poor sanitation
- People have become more money conscious
- Interference with the local cultures
SESSION ONE
18th March 1998
Activity 2: |
Understanding
economic changes |
Question 2: |
How have these
changes affected workers and their communities |
Solution: |
The changes have
affected workers and their communities as follows:- |
|
- There is high rate of inflation
- Different kinds of communicable diseases
- High rate of unemployment
- Increased immorality among the youths
- There is general pollution due to congestion caused by
TNC’s
- Increased poverty
- High rate of mortality
- High rate of crimes
- Psychological traumas due to retrenchment and uncalled for
retirements
- Increased rate of illegal trade and high rate of corruption
- Increased child labour due to poverty
- Increase of street children
- Frequent closure of local industries du to competition by
TNC’s
- Inadequate retirement/retrenchment benefits
- Increased illiteracy due to lack of school fees
- Affect law reforms in favour of TNC’s interest
- Negative effects of the economy of the country due to the
conditions imposed by the IMF and World bank
|
- What is the cause of these changes?
|
Solution: |
The causes are
as follows:-
- Conditions imposed by the IMF and the World Bank
- Invasion by the TNC’s
- Political will has been compromised by the TNC’s
- Suppression of the democratisation process
- Reduced organisational power by the labour force
- Uninformed labour force/leadership
|
DEBATING TNC INVESTMENT:
ATTANDANCE
- Francisca Wambua
- Emily Latan
- Emily Opini
- Naomi Mulee
- Sarah Munguti
- Benedicta Kilonzo
- Monica Musau
- Michael Otieno
- Amina Shabani
Nkongoli Lagwida
Report for the members of the I.S.C. in other
countries.
During our deliberations of the first session
on TNC Investment, the groups agreed that the advantages of TNC Investments in our country
are as follows:-
- Job creation by the introduction of modern technologies and
new work techniques
- Improvement of the infrastructure in terms of construction of
buildings, road network for their own personal use and for the general use of the locals
- Exposure to modern technologies such as machines and
computers. Modern communications technologies
- Improvement and development of the local communities by
investing in the rural areas through creation of industries, roads, electricity and water
and communication technologies to the rural communities
- The exposure to training opportunities and modern skills
improvement
We also came up with problems related to TNC
Investments as follows:-
- Unfair product and market competition leading to the closure
of local industries therefore also causing unemployment
- Low wages and cheap labour and therefore exploitation of the
local labour
- Environmental degradation from industrial effluent and other
waste products. Pollution of water sources such as rivers, streams and lakes
- Discourages labour organisation and the formation of trade
unions thereby discouraging equal negotiations of general terms and conditions of
employment
- General abuse and contempt for local labour legislation on
occupational health and safety
- Structural adjustment programmes imposed by the World Bank and
the IMF resulting in retrenchments and massive unemployment thus resulting to increased
poverty, high rate of immorality and high incidences of communicable diseases
- Compromised political will by corrupting the leaders or
blackmailing the government
- Corruption through the giving of loans which are not properly
utilised
- Exploitation of local raw materials and natural resources
leading to degradation of the local environment
- Reduction of the number of permanent jobs and replacing them
with casual jobs
- Long working hours which is not compensated for
These were some of the points we came up with
during our group discussions.
- Reduced rate in the growth of local industries (hinder)
What is the cause of these changes?
- Conditions imposed by the World Bank/IMF
- TNCs invading the local market
- No political will to change laws for greater democratisation
- Suppression of the democractisation process
- Reduced organisational power by the labour force
- Uninformed labour force/leadership
SESSION TWO
25th March 1998
ATTENDANCE
- Francisca Wambua
- Emily Latan
- Emily Opini
- Naomi Mulee
- Sarah Munguti
- Benedicta Kilonzo
- Monica Musau
- Michael Otieno
- Amina Shabani
- Nkongoli Lagwida
Activity One
Understanding structural adjustment
- Yes, there is structural adjustment programmes in our country
- Its main features are:-
- Retrenchments of workers
- Privatisation of state companies
- Increased unemployment due to introduction of modern
technologies
- Cost sharing in the provision of public services, schools,
medical/health
- Currency devaluation
- Abrupt redundancies
- Increased psycho-social problems
- TNCs taking over privatised government bodies
- Yes, we have seen TNCs benefit from the process:-
- Free land
- Cheap labour
- Tax free holidays
- Government protection against organised labour and Collective
Bargaining
- Cheap raw materials
- Low cost of living
- High expatriate allowances
- Removal of state subsidies on public services
- Removal of price controls on basic foods
- Increase in the rate of malnutrition
- Nutritional deficiency diseases
- Privatisation of public services e.g. waste dumping from
garbage collection, insufficient water treatment, public hospitals and clinics which
become expensive (corruption)
- Cost sharing in public universities as a result of saps
- Increased corruption
- Discrimination against women in employment/employment
opportunities e.g. young women are employed on condition that they should state the period
to remain single
- Married women to state their intention of getting more
children
- Are employed in causal employment and temporary employment
- Others are employed on home based jobs which are poorly paid
and which are resulting in lack of workers organisations
- Women workers are more exposed to occupational hazards which
are transferred to their homes when washing their protective clothing together with the
family clothes
- General despondency among the community because people are
consumed by problems
- Reduced purchasing power
- Widening the gap between the rich and poor
Effects on workers and local community
Workers
- Redundancy
- Stress (psycho-social problems)
- Retrenchment without benefits
- Increased unemployment as a result of retrenchment
- Increased crime and drug traffic abuse
- Increased riots
- Increased illiteracy and school dropouts
- Idleness leading to unplanned pregnancies which results to
high population
- Increase of immorality due to poverty, leading to increased
high of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
- Force the community to live in poor conditions (slums)
- Creates job insecurity
Community
- Force the community to live in very poor conditions
- High rate of mortality
- Increased rate of child labour
- Increased rate of child abuse
- Increased number of street children
- Increased rate of immorality/abortion and divorce/separation
within families
- High rate of crime/violence
- High rate of epidemic diseases
- Removal of state subsidies on public services
- Removal of basic food price control
- Increased rate of malnutrition-leading to nutritional
deficiency diseases
- Increased unplanned pregnancies due to idleness and lack of
recreational capability
STRATEGIES OF TRADE UNIONS
Imagine that your trade union was able to negotiate with IMF
and World Bank concerning the implementation of a structural adjustment programme in your
country.
What should be the strategy of your Trade Union in such
negotiations?
- This can be done by formulating strategies on how to safeguard
the jobs. The money being provided for retrenchment (golden handshake) should be diverted
to other development programs. The money being given for privatisation by IMF and World
Bank should be spent on paying the workers’ salaries
- The loan given for retrenchment which is a burden to the
government should be diverted to other development projects such as reviving the collapsed
State Corporations
The union should try to protect the workers’ (jobs)
- Prepare the workers for retrenchment effects through education
programs
- Formulate some income generating projects for the affected
workers
- Trade Unions to negotiate with the government for the takeover
of the collapsed State Corporations to be run by the affected workers (the retrenched
workers)
- Trade Unions should negotiate for reduced loan interest rates
- Negotiate for part of the profit which is repatriated to
foreign countries by the TNCs, part of it to be retained locally to improve the
circulation of the foreign currency. This will in turn improve the foreign currency
reserve
- The Trade Union should have initiatives of researching and
monitoring when any TNC is coming up in any given country so as to combat the negative
effects in the initial stages.
