The Congress of Labour and Fraternity in Rwanda (COTRAF-RWANDA), a trade union movement has urged employees to be mindful of their rights.

Martin Kampayana, the COLF director said that employers subjected untold suffering to their employees because many do not know their rights.

"We have heard people complain about unsafe working conditions,” Kampayana yesterday while meeting trade union members at their office in Kacyiru.

One of the COLF’s main objectives is to support, mobilise and defend the workers and raise their awareness about the need to organise into unions.

The movement also registers complaints regarding unfair dismissals and workers’ rights violations among others. He asked institutions’ heads to help their employees by providing relevant information regarding their workers’ rights.

"The employees who do not know their rights face numerous problems like being assigned extra work,” Kampayana said, stressing that employers must be honest and straightforward. He said some employees are assigned too much work and paid less money not equivalent to their services they give.

In 1998, the international trade union confederation (ITUC) signed an agreement stressing that all the employees worldwide should form trade unions which will protect their rights.

The agreement showed some of the rights an employee deserves. The ITUC aimed at changing the mindset of employers and some countries that treated their employees unfairly.

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