Workers' unions must be a united lot

May Day celebrations date back to the 19th century and it is a day when workers are expected to have a day off, meet and network at events organised by their workers' unions.

Despite the prevailing socio-economic conditions that have seen many companies closing shop, and people being pushed into the informal economy, the fact that some labour unions are prepared to celebrate the day should be highly commended.

Trade unions in Tanzania have a total membership of approximately 370,000, with the majority belonging to the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA), which is the national trade union centre, formed in 2000 after the dissolution of the Tanzania Federation of Free Trade Unions. The next largest union in terms of membership is the Zanzibar Trade Union Congress (ZATUC).

The Trade Union Act of 1998 allowed the trade unions to be independent of the government, for any twenty workers to found a trade union, but they must register with the Registrar of Trade Unions within six months of formation.

TUCTA, the oldest workers union umbrella body will be holding its celebrations at the national level in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region. We hope the event today is a call to action to resuscitate the economy, and not engage in violent demonstrations and should give workers room to reflect on the role of the labour movement in nation-building.

We commend unions celebrating Workers Day because they realise that it came with a heavy price -- the struggle for independence and national sovereignty.

They also realise that as they get together even under such challenging circumstances, it gives them a competitive edge to review Tanzania’s current labour movement vis-à-vis what was obtaining after Independence.

The more reason why the different workers unions should be united and be part of the solution to the current economic challenges.

Their themes should also reflect an understanding of where Tanzania is, and where it is headed. Pessimism and antagonism are not always the best way to deal with problems.

It would be a waste of an important day for the workers to come together with the sole purpose of denouncing government and its policies because it is well-known that the situation in the labour industry is a result of a myriad of variables.

In some countries with the exception of Tanzania, it is common to see organised street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries including Tanzania. It is also celebrated unofficially in many other countries.

International Workers' Day is also the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, when Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight hour workday, killing several demonstrators and resulting in the deaths of several police officers, largely from friendly fire.

Junior athletes need more competitions

TANZANIA will, once again, have an opportunity to prove its worth in athletics at the continental level when the country hosts a junior championship that will bring together East and Central African countries in May.

It will be the second time for the country to host the championship in recent years and the domestic athletics enthusiasts will, certainly, be pinning their hopes on the national junior team to excel in the event.

We would like to wish national junior athletics team all the best and we insist they should give their all in the event.

Achieving success in the championship is definitely crucial for the development of the national junior athletics team’s members, given they will bolster their chances of participating in lucrative major competitions.

National junior athletics team’s members also stand to greatly improve the country’s image in the sport and end a string of dismal performances the country’s athletes have been putting in major competitions in recent years.

It is obvious domestic athletics enthusiasts have lately been frustrated a lot, what with the country’s athletes’ failure to make their presence felt in major events.

National junior athletics team’s members will have to be at their best, if they harbour hopes of performing well in the championship, given they will face well drilled competitors from such countries like Ethiopia and Kenya.

We urge domestic sports stakeholders to support national junior athletics team’s preparations in a bid to ensure the team performs well in the event.

Failure by the country’s athletes to perform well in major competitions at the international level in recent years has largely been caused by the former’s poor preparations.

With the Athletics Tanzania (AT) struggling to access support for national athletics teams, the latter have, in turn, failed to prepare well for their assignments.

We feel there is a need for sports stakeholders in the country to join forces with AT and see to it that the latter organises more competitions for domestic junior athletes annually with a view to realizing proper grooming of the athletes.

With the exception of the national junior athletics championship, which is mainly hosted with a view to selecting athletes for major international assignments, there is no any other competition for junior athletes at the national level.

We, therefore, insist that athletics followers in the country should fully cooperate with AT in soliciting financial support for the association and ensure it organises more competitions for junior athletes.

There is no doubt that there are several budding athletes that are produced by national primary and secondary schools games but there are no efforts to see to it that the athletes receive proper grooming.

AT’s ability to organise more competitions for the junior athletes will, certainly, give the latter platform to exhibit their potential and gain experience, which is crucial for their success in major events.

Tanzanian athlete, Alphonce Simbu, has somewhat managed to bring smiles on the faces of the domestic athletics after the former had excelled in major competitions held recently.

Domestic athletics enthusiasts should not rest on their laurels following Simbu’s success and the former should, therefore, step up efforts to groom more talented athletes, who will help the country maintain its achievement.

The sport’s followers should, moreover, not end up pouring criticism on AT for the failure by domestic athletes to perform well in international events, if the former will not support the latter in overseeing the athletes’ preparations.