Botswana workers unconscious - study
Oarabile Mosikare | Tuesday September 2, 2014 13:15
Kalosupa, stated in the study titled ‘Trade union services and benefits in Botswana’ that trade unions failed not only on the clarity of ideology but also on how to develop services and schemes that reflect workers’ empowerment and social justice rather than crass accumulation of profits.
The objective of the study was to gauge the capacity of trade unions in Botswana in providing services and benefits to their members as a way to retaining existing members as well as, and attracting new ones.
The study concluded that, “It is recommended that trade unions should develop education activities that entrench the endogenous drive that can create wealth for the workers in the name of the struggle for social justice”.
Kalosupa also recommended that the expansion of services and benefits; evaluation of services through satisfaction surveys; improvement of the internal management of services and benefits; and the liking of services and benefits to membership recruitment drive.
The study also recommended that unions explore ways to enhance their services and benefits.
“In that regard, unions should continuously consult the general membership on the viability of union benefits and services. It is thus important for union organisers, negotiators and educators, shop stewards and the rank and file to be continuously informed and their opinions sort on existing and future benefits and services,” wrote Kasulopa.
It has also been established that though services and benefits were offered, there were no effective means to evaluate the satisfaction of such services and benefits. In this regard, the academic recommended that user satisfaction surveys be instituted to evaluate the impact of the various services and benefits currently offered in the trade unions.
“External independent customer satisfaction surveys could be one way to do this” Kasulopa stated.
It also underscored the relevance of education and training as a key service that could enhance the membership recruitment drive.
“However, most of the educational committees were near moribund or non-functional. In that regard, unions need intensify their educational programmes that target members,” he stated, adding that notable services could include programmes and activities aimed at organising and recruitment targeting young workers that hold the promise for the labour movement in Botswana.
He also established that there were internal administrative challenges and pressures in the management of the service and benefit schemes.
Furthermore, he recommended that trade unions employ and deploy officials with specialised knowledge to run this aspect rather than political leadership of the unions.
“It is also recommended that trade unions have regular consultations with their members to obtain their views on the internal management of the services and benefits that the union should provide them,” he stated.