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

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