Vicky’s union covers workers in many different sectors. ‘Conservation’ includes the national parks and tourism, hotels and restaurants. ‘Allied’ includes those in bars, petrol stations, supermarkets, and the informal economy, as well as people working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Vicky is also a union coordinator on child labour and domestic workers’ issues, and she has helped to develop a multifaceted campaign to combat child labour in Tanzania. She is a member of the National Child Labour Committee under the Prime Minister, the Domestic Workers’ Minimum Wage Council under the Minister of Labour, and the Child Trafficking Committee under the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The child labour campaign in Tanzania has been facilitated through the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) programme of the ILO, supported by positive policies from the national Government. It tackles the poverty in rural areas which causes families to send their children to the cities; it brings agents and traffickers to the authorities so action can be taken against them; it rescues child domestic workers; and it provides vocational training to vulnerable young people. It has also had a marked impact on gender relations, giving women the opportunity to get men to reflect on their behaviour, especially with regard to family responsibilities.

Through the campaign, the union has help give support to thousands of people, and massively increased its own public profile and its membership among women, especially those working in the informal economy such as adult domestic workers, as Vicky explains:

“First we had to create public awareness about the consequences of child labour. I was interviewed on TV so the message would reach all over the country. I used vivid cases of what happens to child domestic workers. Then we held awareness-raising meetings in the rural communities where the children come from, in collaboration with local government officials, village committees and other leaders.

The children are often taken from their homes by agents with promises like ‘she will work and send you money’ or ‘she will be going to school’. Families are poor, and so they agree to let their child go. Most domestic child workers are girls under the age of 18.

Some are not just taken to the towns and cities of Tanzania but to other countries, such as to Nairobi, the capital of neighbouring Kenya. This is trafficking of children. We have been working with the police and local authorities to track and arrest the agents, and take them to court.

We encourage village councils to pass new by-laws, with penalties for parents who send their children to work instead of school. The penalty might be a chicken or a goat, for example. But it is not about punishing people. The poor are in great need of alternative income-generating activities.

So CHODAW has been supporting the formation of micro-businesses such as trading cloth or baking for local restaurants, as well as savings and credit schemes. We help with funds and training in entrepreneurship skills and financial management. You might ask how this is of direct benefit to the union, but the fact is that they become union members, and we now have 1,300 new members through these schemes, three-quarters of whom are women.

Also, we have linked up with NGOs which offer health services and specialise in HIV-Aids. They draw in funds from donors, and can treat people with HIV or TB for as little as US$1 each. So here the union’s financial contribution is small. The point is that some children get infected through sexual abuse by their employers. We work with local government officers to have these children treated and returned to their villages.

Not only that, the union has helped establish vocational skills training facilities for young people aged 15-18 years. We have secured funds for this from the ILO, plus support from other donors and ‘good Samaritans’. For example, a mass media group donated some equipment.

A special curriculum has been developed under the Ministry of Education. The three-month courses include tailoring, batik tie-dye, carpentry, welding, electrical installation, elementary mechanics and driving, ceremonial decoration, cookery for housekeeping, professional cleaning, candle-making and handicrafts. The programme also includes HIV-Aids awareness, gender aspects and entrepreneurial skills.

So far some 2,500 young people have been on the courses, three-quarters of whom are girls, and they are doing mechanics, carpentry and welding. Our union is running seven of the training facilities, and private providers run others. They must also follow the agreed curriculum, and look for employment opportunities for the graduates.

Those trained include former domestic workers and others at risk, for example the very poor or orphans, the children of single parents, and HIV patients. How did we identify them? Well, we set up special Child Labour Committees in local communities, with members from our Street Representative system, school teachers, influential women from the community, and faith-based organisations (both Muslim and Christian).

Plus we have done ‘physical and social mapping’ of local areas, to help identify the most vulnerable places from which the children come, and then develop plans in response. Working with local government officers, we look at incomes and access to services such as electricity, water, health and education. Where people walk 5 kms to get water or carry firewood on their heads, the cities with their electricity and TVs seem very attractive. These are the ‘push’ factors. We even include recreation facilities in our mapping – in many places there are only drinking clubs for men and football for boys, nothing for women or girls.

Through this mapping, each community produces a strategic plan, working out who can tackle what. Teachers check school registers to find out who is not attending. The youth say who among their friends are missing; they sometimes help identify the bus-stops and train stations through which children have been taken. This helps the police track the agents.

This mapping has been so good. It has been an eye-opener even to local politicians to see what is happening on the ground to children. It has helped influence local governments to increase the budget to the areas where children are most vulnerable.

It has been a fight, though. Women have pointed the finger at men. Some men have come to realise they were not being responsible by wasting time and money on beer. Through the child labour programme we have been able to change men’s attitudes at home.

Many people said, ‘We didn’t realise this is the work of a union. We thought it was ‘only for workers in the formal sector’ or ‘only for adults’. The name of our union CHODAWU has been spread far and wide. Even local councillors can identify us. They now see we are for human rights, not just workers’ rights. We are going beyond workers’ rights.

But, in any case, these children are the workers of tomorrow. We in the trade unions must not just concentrate on our traditional things. We shouldn’t just depend on conventions and laws, or wait to get involved. Some complain that NGOs are coming up. But sometimes we talk a lot and do too little.

The informal economy sustains us all. In reality, we don’t depend on the big industries and companies. Our vehicles are mended by local garages. We buy our vegetables at the market. We have our hair done by a local hairdresser. All our lives are interwoven with the informal economy.

Over three-quarters of people depend on the informal economy for their livelihood, whether in rural or urban areas. Our friends’ problems will become our own business. We have to help our friends overcome their problems. Just because there is no ‘war’ does not necessarily mean it is a peaceful country. Women and children are suffering.”

Interviewed by Celia Mather, Lusaka, 4 July 2006

IPEC: www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec