Botswana's labour relations system: lessons from 2011 public sector strike
Date
2016-02-19
Authors
Mwatcha, Mpho Patience
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Abstract
In 2011, public sector employees in Botswana engaged in a two-month-long legal
strike over a wage dispute. The right to strike is a highly contentious and debatable
right. None of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions makes an
express reference to the right to strike but the ILO supervisory bodies insist that the
right to strike is a fundamental right that confers power on trade unions to defend the
interests of their members. By virtue of the decisions of ILO’s main two bodies,
member states cannot admit the right of free association and to bargain collectively
and then deny workers the right to strike. Furthermore, according to ILO, the right to
strike extends to all workers in the public service, the only allowable exception being
for employees directly involved in the administration of the state and ‘essential
services’.
Although several countries entrench this right in their constitution, violation is
widespread. In such countries, while the right to strike exists in principle in reality it
is essentially curtailed by unworkable procedures, as it is the case in Botswana. The
2011 public sector strike exposed the frailties of Botswana’s industrial relations, a
country popularly eulogized as Africa’s economic miracle and a shining example of
democracy. This study examined the lessons brought by the 2011 strike on the
character of industrial relations system of Botswana. The study was largely guided by
a qualitative paradigm and data was obtained through individual face-to-face
interviews, Skype and focus group interviews as well as document review.
This study established that there is a historical conflict between Botswana trade
unions and the government. The 2011 strike inflamed already adversarial industrial
relations. The findings of study confirm that following the 2011 public sector strike,
the government has been hostile and vindictive to public sector unions especially
those which steered the 2011 strike. Subsequent to the 2011 strike, the government
rescinded most of the rights and freedoms that union leaders used to enjoy. There is a
general consensus among public servants and their unions that Botswana labour
relations has always been hostile towards trade unions and their activities, but this
hostility has been obscured by the common review that Botswana is democratic,
peaceful and an epitome of good governance in Africa. However, the 2011 public
sector strike uncovered this mask.
Description
A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
Department of Sociology/Global Labour University
Faculty of Humanities
University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa