EU promises aid to trade unions

The head of European Union (EU) delegation in Rwanda, David Macrae, has hailed the country’s progressive development of the civil society, especially trade unions, promising financial support to the main pillars of economic development. Macrae said this while unveiling a project for the promotion of trade union rights and capacity building for their leaders, at a function that took place at Hotel Novotel, Tuesday. The three-year project which will run up to 2011, will cost 308,060 Euros of which 80 percent has already been disbursed. Trade union national leaders will be trained on basic knowledge on social rights, micro and macro economy and collective negotiation techniques. About 120 trade union members and leaders from the tea plantation sectors and production units, 20,000 general workers and teachers have already benefited. “Trade unions help members in enterprises and companies to be adequately protected against the arbitrary actions of their employers,” Macrae said. He encouraged workers to be active at the lower level to defend their collective interests. The president of the Congress of Labour Fraternity of Rwanda (COTRAF) Dominique Bicamumpaka, pointed out that the establishment would offer a legal assistance office to carry out advocacy for the workers and teachers from the targeted professional sectors. He rapped employers, political and administrative leaders who are misinformed on legal provisions and International Labour Conventions on freedom of trade union association’s and trade union pluralism. Ends