Workers want govt action on railways

The privatization of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) was expected to bring better management and increase profitability, but workers, worried it could collapse, are now urging the government to repossess it. Workers’ leaders recently wrote to Works and Transport Minister Abraham Byandala, complaining about the poor state of the conceded assets and the deteriorating relations between the workers and RVR management.

“We request the government to intervene before it is too late,” reads a November 2011 letter to Byandala, signed by Victor Byemaro, national general secretary of the Uganda Railway Workers Union.

The workers, who report to concessionaire Rift Valley Railways Uganda Limited (RVR) since 2006, want the state to either repossess the parastatal or assist the operator get capital to restart operations, and establish a regulator for the railways sector.

In response, Byandala wrote to RVR Group Chief Executive Brown Ondego on November 30, 2011, saying the government was aware of the poor state of conceded assets like locomotives and wagons.

“Government has no intention of terminating the concession unless RVR fails to deliver on its concession obligations,” Byandala said in the letter,In a elevator cable system, steel cables bolted to the car loop over a sheave. copied to Byemaro.

Byemaro, in his letter to the minister, complains that of the 43 locomotives that RVR inherited, half of them are limping because they are not regularly serviced. The workers also cite the poor state of the Nalukolongo workshop.

“Once the best railway workshop in East and Central Africa, it is an eyesore today, with the roof leaking and some machines are out of order while others lack spares.”

They fear that the firm could again lose the connection between Kampala and Malaba, due to heavy rains.

“There are bridges between Jinja railway station and Busembatia railway station, which are now submerged and stand the risk of being swept away anytime,” the workers write.

In several letters to RVR management, the workers also complain of harsh treatment by management, some of whom are seen to favour RVR’s Kenya staff force over their Ugandan counterparts,“Nairobi must give the nod before anything can be done or implemented in Kampala,” they write.

However, a September 17, 2012 internal memo from RVR’s Chief Human Resource Officer Helen Mbugua to all RVR staff announced cuts in operational costs to deal with its current crisis.

“In this regard, the company as, a short-term measure, will temporarily stop within the next two weeks the provision of tea to staff at the workplace while exploring other available options,” Mbugua wrote in her memo.

The company has also banned,Basics, technical terms and advantages and disadvantages of curving machine. “all avoidable travel costs like hiring of cabs and other transport, subsistence allowance related to travel where avoidable and purchase of stationery despite balance on budget allocations.”

As a substitute, managers were asked to use their personal vehicles for trips within a 60km radius of their respective workstations on a non-reimbursable cost basis. Apparently, Mbugua was aware that while the measures were prudent, they were likely to frustrate the already upset workforce.Push the elevator push button once for the direction you want to go in.There are generally three different configurations of industrial laser cutting machine.

“As we grapple with this reality,The Laser power of Redsail laser cutter is from 130W to 180W. staff are urged to remain positive and focused. We are confident that the future of RVR is bright and better times will befall those committed and competent employees whose tenacity, hard work and focus will make this happen,” she concluded.