East African trade unions have called upon their governments to harmonize the existing labour laws to eliminate cross border national comparisons of labour costs as it will encourage employers to move to areas that offer cheap labour.
The unions claim their countries are under attack from multinational corporations that are engaged in cutthroat competition and profit maximization.
Speaking at a conference that brought together trade unions from across the EAC region on Monday, Benson Okwaro Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COTU said that Multinationals are driving policies advocating for free markets without regulation.
“Globalization of markets and the increasing prominence of multinational companies remain a threat to the national context within which trade unions operate,” said Okwaro.
He further added that the impact on working people and vulnerable groups all in the name of economic globalization calls for urgent and immediate concerted actions within the trade union movements.
International Trade Union Council, Sylvain Kiza, a liaison officer for Kenya said the theme of the conference ‘How to advance the organizing agenda in East Africa’ will aid in proposing viable solutions to the problems.
Kiza pointed out that the strength of trade unions lies in their numbers and that it was unfortunate as a result of low economic growth in African countries workers are reluctant to join unions as new entrants or to remain members owing to their fear of job loss in an environment that is hostile to unions.
“We must design strategies in organizing so as to promptly respond to the changing work environment like a business plan,” said Kiza.
The conference is set to run for a four day period ending this Thursday and will be looking at the challenges East African countries have been facing with respect to unions over the past years.

CAROL MUTHONDU