CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The putting in place of international and national regulations as well as institutions (Courts) to protect workers’ rights in Cameroon has greatly improved on the working conditions of workers in Cameroon. These laws include; the Labour Code, the Constitution, ILO, UDHR, ICESCR. In spite of these regulations put in place, and ratified by the government of Cameroon, workers’ rights are still being violated. There is therefore need to carry out an investigation on the rights of workers to be able to understand the challenges faced by the government in the respect, protection and fulfillment of these rights.

1.1 Background to the Study

            Safeguarding the rights of workers will benefit them, and at the same time, the enterprise by limiting misunderstanding and preventing the occurrence of illegal activities and events. This has been the objective of all stakeholders involved in employment relations. Looking at the parties in an employment contract, the employer is always often placed in a better position which permits him to minimize the rights of the worker. This and others explain the coming into place of regulations which are more pro worker.

The dawn of the industrial revolution in the 19^th century, brought with it increasingly poor employment standards, where employers took advantage of their workers by providing them with little or no job security as well as no safety and health protection in the workplace, coupled with excessive exploitation of these workers[1]. These problems led to the development of labour and employment law, which was aimed at regulating the employer/worker relationship in a bid to ensure that people work under dignified conditions and are not unduly exploited in the course of work.

Labour law was developed as a way of regulating and improving the life of people at work. It is the body of law which applies to matters such as employment, remuneration, working conditions, trade unions and industrial relations. In its most comprehensive sense, the term includes social security and disability insurance as well. In addition to individual contractual relationships growing out of traditional employment situation, labour law deals with the statutory requirement and collective relationships that are increasingly important in mass- production societies, the legal relationships between organised economic interests and the state, and the various rights and obligations related to some types of social services[2].

Against the backdrop of continuous exploitation, manipulation and mistreatment of workers they came together to form small groups that requested various rights from employers. They gained more force by uniting to form trade unions, which pushed for the enforcement of such rights. Thus, the relationship between workers and employers at workplace was influenced largely by the actions of trade unions and through the influence of binding collective labour contracts.

By the end of the 19^th Century, the international community saw the need to put in place measures to curb the mistreatment of workers by employers. As a result, resort was made to the drafting of a number of conventions. Conventions were put in place to see on how workers can be protected. They equally encourage them on the right to join trade unions and the right to strike as a means of protecting their rights. Some of these international conventions were ratified and put to action by other nations and Cameroon in particular. These International Conventions include; International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1966, International Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948

The importance of social justice in securing peace, against the exploitation of workers in the industrialising nations led to the creation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1919. The motivation behind this creation comprised security, humanitarian, political and economic considerations, and also the increasing understanding of the world’s economic interdependence and the need for cooperation to obtain similar working conditions in states competing for same markets. Article II Paragraph (a) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Philadelphia Declaration 1958, provides that: “all human beings are entitled to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity” These conditions are coded in conventions and recommendation of the ILO.

The number of individual disputes arising from day-to-day workers’ grievances or complaints have been rising across the world. The causes are complex, and vary across countries and regions. Common features include an increased range of individual rights protections; a decrease in trade union density and collective bargaining coverage; higher risks of termination of employment and unemployment; reduced job quality and security due to greater use of various contractual arrangements for employment and other forms of work; and increased inequality as a result of segmented labour markets. This greater complexity and diversity of individual disputes is reflected in the evolution of processes and mechanisms for preventing and resolving them. At the mid of all the turbulences in employment contracts, Cameroon has not distanced itself from other states in ratifying and drafting laws to safeguard the rights of the worker[3].

The ILO has elaborated over 140 conventions and Cameroon has ratified many notable conventions[4] including Convention N^o.81 on Labour Inspection, Convention N^o.123 on paid leave and Convention N^o.100 on the equality of remuneration[5] and labour relations in Cameroon today are governed by the 1992 Labour Code. The colonial period saw the application of the French Labour Code of 1952 and English Common Law received from Nigeria in Former French and English Cameroons respectively. Since independence, the country has witnessed three Labour Codes (1967, 1974 and 1992). As a result of the economic crisis in the 80s, firms did not respect the 1974 Code. Owing to its rigidity, it was often considered by employers as source of inefficiency. Faced with the privatisation of state corporations and the abuses of rights of former workers of these corporations, the local employers and international financial institution such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund craved for an improved labour market which led to the elaboration of Law N⁰. 92/007 of 14^th August 1992 establishing the Labour Code.

Cameroon has been going through a serious crisis since the early eighties with very disturbing impacts on employment, evidenced by a decline in the job opportunities and the level of safeguard for the rights of the worker. More often workers’ protection is very relative and with poor working conditions and strikes being recurrent in Cameroon. This is a cause for concern which demands that we make an analysis of the safeguard of rights of a worker in Cameroon.

1.2.   Statement of the Problem

The International Labour Organisation is of the opinion that universal and lasting peace can only be achieved when workers receive decent treatment. This is founded on the idea that peace should be founded on social justice.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and other international labour conventions, together with the plethora of locally enacted laws, such as the 1992 Labour Code of Cameroon, make provisions for the safeguard of the rights of the worker in employment contracts.  All these measures are aimed at safeguarding the rights of the worker and to promote social justice nationally as well as internationally. Despite the efforts made by the Government of Cameroon to protect and promote the rights of the worker, courts, tribunals and institutions charged with handling labour and employment related disputes are charged on a daily basis with complaints in relation to breaches and abuses, strikes are frequent and working conditions are degrading.

1.3.       Research Questions

This research is geared at answering the following questions;

1.3.1 Main Research Question

• What is the extent to which the rights of a worker have been safeguarded under Cameroon’s labour legislation?

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

• What are the rights of a worker to be safeguarded?
• Are there any institutions put in place to safeguard workers’ rights?
• What are the challenges encountered in safeguarding workers’ rights?
• What is the role played by the courts in the protection of workers’ rights in Cameroon?
• What policy recommendations can be proposed for the way forward?

1.4   Research Objectives

The objectives of this research have been stratified into main and specific objectives.

1.4.1.   General Objectives

• This research sets out as main objective to examine the to which the rights of a worker have been safeguarded under the 1992 Labour Code of Cameroon

1.4.2.   Specific Objectives

• To ascertain whether workers are accorded adequate protection in by the legal system and institutions in Cameroon
• To identify the difficulties hindering the full enjoyment and enforcement of workers’ rights
• To establish strategies through which respect, protection and promotion of workers’ rights can be ensured
• To identify the core rights of workers

[1] Funmi, A.& Adebimpe A., (2010). The State of Workers’ rights in Nigeria: An Examination of the Banking, Oil and Gas Telecommunication Sectors, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, p.1

[2] Zeitlin, J., (1987), “From Labour History to the History of Industrial Relation”, Economic History Review, 2^nd ser. XL, 2, P.159

[3] Minawa, E, et al., (2016), “Resolving Individual Labour Disputes: A comparative overview”, International Labour Office, Geneva, p.1

[4] Cameroon has ratified over 50 conventions such as the Convention on Forced Labour, Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, both on 7^th June 1970, Right to Organize and Collective Bargain Convention, on 3^rd September, 1962

[5] PG POUGOUE, Droit du travail et de la prevoyance sociale au Cameroun, Presse Universitaire du Cameroun, 1988 p.19