Kenyan leather and shoe sector ‘severely weakened’ by trade liberalisation
Speaking at last week’s International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) workshop in Nairobi, Kenya’s labour minister Joseph Ngutu said the domestic shoe sector had been severely weakened by the opening up of the Kenyan market to international trade.
Erratic power supplies, drought and continuing high production costs meant domestic producers could not hope to compete with imports from the Far East under the current trading regime.
Some idea of the scale of the problem is provided by the fact that the Tailors and Textile Workers' Union has lost 85% of its members in recent years, whilst the Kenya Shoe and Leather Workers ‘Union (KSLWU) now has less than 4000 members, compared with a 13,000-membership before the lifting of protective tariffs.
Mr Joseph Bolo, the general secretary of KSLWU reiterated Mr Ncobo's comment, saying: "They ( the multinationals) are giving us a rough time when discussing the terms and conditions of service." The African regional secretary of ITGLWF, Mr Jabu Ncobo, also accused multinational companies of disregarding the welfare of workers. In response, Mr Ngutu called for respect and protection of workers' rights both in the formal and informal sectors.
Participants at last week’s workshop were drawn from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mauritius, Swaziland and South Africa.
