As Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate International Labour Day on Monday, the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) asked the government to resurrect the Minimum Wage Bill and pass it to avoid workers’ exploitation.
In 2019, the 10th Parliament passed the Minimum Wage Bill 2015, which sought to set up a minimum wage determination mechanism and curb employee exploitation. The bill had set the minimum wage for Uganda at Shs136,000.
However, President Museveni declined to sign the Bill, saying issues it intends to cure are already addressed in the Minimum Wages Advisory Boards and Wages Council Act.
Speaking to the media at the party’s head offices in Rubaga, the Secretary-General of the party, Asuman Odaka, said the law is overdue as many Ugandan employees face a lot of exploitation.
He noted that in both informal and formal sectors, employees work for a little salary or wage while the working conditions they undergo are so terrible.
Odaka demands that the government resurrects the Minimum Wage Bill to save Ugandan employees who have no voice since most of their labour unions were compromised by the ruling government.
