18 September, 20157 October will be the culmination of a campaign run since August by IndustriALLGlobal Union’s affiliates in Senegal against abusive use of daily and seasonal work.
On 12 September, the SYNTICS (Syndicat National des Travailleurs des Industries Chimiques et Activités Rattachées du Sénégal), the SNTIC (Syndicat National des Travailleurs des Industries de la Confection)and, the SUTIDS (Syndicat Unique des Travailleurs des Industries Diverses du Sénégal) participated in a demonstration in Dakar denouncing violation of legislation on the use of daily and seasonal work.
Unions launched the campaign, organizing general assemblies at worksites to mobilize workers and raise awareness about precarious work. They also organized a television campaign with interviews of trade union leaders and a televised report on daily and seasonal work.
On 7 October, the global day of action to STOP Precarious work, IndustriALL’s affiliates are organizing a press conference to denounce precarious work and a demonstration, together with other trade unions.
The objective of the campaign is to restrict the use of both daily and seasonal work to the limited use provided by the law: replacement of an employee on sick leave and increase in production.
However today in the manufacturing industries, according to some reports around 50 per cent of the workforce is employed as daily or seasonal workers but on a permanent basis.
These workers are employed with precarious contracts to perform production work. They are excluded from social security provisions and health and safety protections and are subject to lower salaries and conditions than permanent workers.
Affiliates in Senegal have a history of fighting against precarious work. Every year trade unions succeed to convert precarious workers into permanent workers. Since beginning 2014, affiliates report to have improved the employment status of more than 450 precarious workers, converting them to direct employees.
Last year affiliates in more than 56 countries took action on 7 October.