The State of Decent Work in Small and Medium Enterprises in Zanzibar

The book analyzes possible factors which prevent realization of social dialogue in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) food and beverage sector in Zanzibar. The author argues that despite of having the meaningful guiding principles such as the ILO core conventions and labour legislations and policies, yet its real implementation is not attainable in this sector. The key actors: employers, government, and trade unions understand their roles and responsibilities but do not effectively take into practice. While the social dialogue is mainly focussed and limited to these three pillars, a vast majority of employees and other stakeholders are not involved in the process since the sector is seen as not important, and operating in traditional way. Also he shows that lack of technical capacity among the social partners; inadequate education of labour laws and social dialogue; and misconceptions and mistrusts of both employees and employers against trade unions and government officials are key factors which prevent realization of social dialogue in SMEs. To overcome these obstacles various measures were suggested.