LAST week I wrote about the planned merger between the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) and what this means to the workers.
In this week’s write-up, I promised to tackle the guidelines and processes on which mergers are centred.
For the most part, I will reproduce a presentation by labour expert, Clement Kasonde at a workshop in Lusaka last June on the role of trade unions in workplace relations.
Mr Kasonde, who is the Labour Institute of Zambia (LIZ) executive director and a lecturer in labour studies at Mulungushi University, says the role of trade unions has changed significantly over the past 30 years.
He outlines global competition, a growing trend in outsourcing, and legal constraints as some of the factors that have combined in precipitating a significant fall in union membership and the coverage of collective bargaining.
According to Mr Kasonde, the coming decade promises to be equally challenging for the trade union movement in Zambia.
How trade unions respond to the challenges and opportunities over the next few years will be crucial in determining their level of influence at work and beyond in the future.
Importance of union mergers
Mr Kasonde shared that while business gains strength through competition, workers benefit from organisational cohesion.
One of the trade union organisational cohesion is through union mergers. Globalisation of trade unionism stands for presence across the globe as well as speaking with a single voice, and this can be achieved if ZCTU and FFTUZ embraced the merging process together with their affiliates.
In the case of Zambia, while more and more multinational companies have entered the labour market, trade unions have fragmented even further.
Union density has dropped to about 35 per cent, with ZCTU claiming about 350,000 members and FFTUZ managing a membership of about 50,000.
Mr Kasonde holds that global trade union response to the power of global capitalism could only be achieved through union mergers.
Why should unions think of merging?
Some of the reasons why mergers should be considered include the exposure of Zambian firms and industries to greater market pressures, and a growing trend in outsourcing and the growth in a typical employment.
The imposition of legal constraints on the ability of unions to recruit, organise, collectively bargain and take industrial action has all contributed to a sharp fall in membership.

Impact of political pluralism on trade unionism in Zambia
The UNIP regime from 1964 to 1991 thrived on the principle of one union-one industry. Mr Kasonde records that in his opening address to the National Assembly of January 7, 1979, the then president Kenneth Kaunda stated as follows:
‘…our policy still remains one of supporting one union for one industry, for we are convinced that a proliferation of trade unions weakens the bargaining strength of the workers.’
This policy held the labour movement together and strengthened the voice of the politics of organised labour in Zambia.
The pattern of one union in one industry has more advantages than disadvantages. Apart from strengthening trade unions, this pattern avoids the problem of multiple representation and its associated disadvantages of inter-union conflict, multiplicity of negotiations within the industry, as well as the problem of overlapping membership.
One can hardly doubt the suitability of this philosophy because of its implicit spirit for good industrial relation and a strong trade union movement
The Movement for Multi-party Democracy  ran Zambia’s affairs from 1991 to 2011. Political pluralism in 1990 in Zambia was used as a major thrust to justify the liberalisation of the labour market by the former government.
There was proliferation of unions using the right to Freedom of Association (FoA) which compromised and weakened trade unions, and led to a decline in union membership and a weak financial base.
Mr Kasonde argues that although trade union amalgamation through merging is not a panacea, it may offer many opportunities for using resources more effectively.
He observes that careful strategies should be developed to ensure the promised benefits of union mergers are realised.
Trade union pluralism is part of the principle of the FoA, which is a universal basic right.
The aim of the International Labour Conference, when drawing up Convention No. 87, was to protect the independence of trade unions and safeguard the right of workers to create and belong to trade unions of their own choice. The purpose was never to promote trade union proliferation and fragmentation.
Allow me, dear readers, to restate what I wrote last week. According to Inviolata Chinyangarara, senior specialist for workers’ activities, ILO Decent Work Team – Pretoria, the two main instruments of the ILO that protect the freedom of association of workers are the FoA and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (C87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (C98).
There is still a lot more to be shared on union mergers which I hope to do so next week as this is absolutely necessary for the effective representation of workers in Zambia.
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I am in receipt of a letter from one reader which I have reproduced below:
“Advise me Sir. If a company introduces a pension scheme today, what will happen to those who have already served for more than ten years? Would they retain their services or would their money be taken into the scheme? Advise please.
I am still waiting for your response since I wrote back to you to seek clarification on your query.
After the introduction of the pension scheme, are you still in employment or have your services been terminated?
If you say you served for over ten years, what were the terms of your employment contract?
These are important questions which will form the basis for an accurate answer.
Dear readers, let us keep the link open as we share issues on labour and employment. As you prepare to go to the polls next week, I urge you to revisit the manifestos of all the participating political parties so that you make informed, worker-friendly decisions.
For comments or questions, email izukanji.simengwa@gmail.com or niza12001@yahoo.com.