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Trade unions as a platform for change? A study on the empowerment of Zambian trade union members in the commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors

Palmvang, Maria LU and Finalyson, Caitlin Anne (2014) SIMV24 20141
Graduate School
Department of Sociology
Master of Science in Development Studies
Abstract
In Zambia, the privatisation of state owned companies is challenging job security, working conditions and workers’ rights. It has also weakened the role of government as a regulator of labour legislation, which in Zambia is quite progressive, compared to other countries in the region. Workers struggle to survive and therefore turn to trade unions in order to change their situation. This study examines two specific Zambian trade unions from the industrial and commercial sector, and the agricultural sector, through a lens of social empowerment theory. The point of departure is the ability of the two trade unions to empower their members to claim their rights to better working and living conditions, further, what influences challenge this... (More)
In Zambia, the privatisation of state owned companies is challenging job security, working conditions and workers’ rights. It has also weakened the role of government as a regulator of labour legislation, which in Zambia is quite progressive, compared to other countries in the region. Workers struggle to survive and therefore turn to trade unions in order to change their situation. This study examines two specific Zambian trade unions from the industrial and commercial sector, and the agricultural sector, through a lens of social empowerment theory. The point of departure is the ability of the two trade unions to empower their members to claim their rights to better working and living conditions, further, what influences challenge this ability and how their ability extends to collective action and large scale change for all Zambian trade union members and workers. This thesis is a qualitative study, which uses semi-structured interviews as the main source of empirical data. The findings show that there are differences between the extent of empowerment of ordinary and branch members. Further the influence of the employer, processes of privatisation and, lack of and controlled resources are all factors, which are limiting the empowerment process. The lack of members’ empowerment is preventing collective action, which leads to the implementation of labour laws and the challenging of private employers and government. (Less)
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author
Palmvang, Maria LU and Finalyson, Caitlin Anne
supervisor
organization
course
SIMV24 20141
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Zambia, trade unions, empowerment, privatisation
language
English
id
4590457
date added to LUP
2014-09-03 10:00:20
date last changed
2014-09-03 10:00:20
@misc{4590457,
  abstract     = {{In Zambia, the privatisation of state owned companies is challenging job security, working conditions and workers’ rights. It has also weakened the role of government as a regulator of labour legislation, which in Zambia is quite progressive, compared to other countries in the region. Workers struggle to survive and therefore turn to trade unions in order to change their situation. This study examines two specific Zambian trade unions from the industrial and commercial sector, and the agricultural sector, through a lens of social empowerment theory. The point of departure is the ability of the two trade unions to empower their members to claim their rights to better working and living conditions, further, what influences challenge this ability and how their ability extends to collective action and large scale change for all Zambian trade union members and workers. This thesis is a qualitative study, which uses semi-structured interviews as the main source of empirical data. The findings show that there are differences between the extent of empowerment of ordinary and branch members. Further the influence of the employer, processes of privatisation and, lack of and controlled resources are all factors, which are limiting the empowerment process. The lack of members’ empowerment is preventing collective action, which leads to the implementation of labour laws and the challenging of private employers and government.}},
  author       = {{Palmvang, Maria and Finalyson, Caitlin Anne}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Trade unions as a platform for change? A study on the empowerment of Zambian trade union members in the commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}