The AFL-CIO joins with ITUC Africa (International Trade Union Confederation Regional Organization for Africa), speaking for 16 million workers on the continent, as well as with the Kenya Central Organization of Trade Unions (KOTU) in welcoming the peace agreement signed at the end of February between the government of President Mwai Kibaki and the opposition led by Raila Odinga. Our federation, and the more than 10 million U.S. working men and women it represents, hope this new accord brings a resolute end to the political and social crisis that followed the announcement of the disputed presidential elections in 2007, which led to the tragic deaths of nearly 1,500 Kenyan citizens and the displacement of more than 600,000 people.
This welcome agreement is due in no small part to the able work of the African Union (AU)-supported mediation team led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, by the personal intervention of the AU chairman, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kilwete, and, most significantly, by the good-faith efforts of the Kenyan people and their political leaders who were willing to put aside sectarian and ethnic differences to achieve a peaceful end to the violent conflict.
In solidarity with our sisters and brothers of ITUC Africa, the AFL-CIO makes a strong appeal to the East African Community (ECA), the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), the African Union, the UN, our own government and the entire international community for sustained and effective assistance to ensure the successful implementation of all aspects of the peace accord. In particular, all of the agreement’s power-sharing provisions, including the authorities and duties of the presidency and of the newly created prime minister’s post, must be respected.
Unfortunately, this welcome accord will soon be in jeopardy unless there is also a global commitment to seriously address and reverse the economic privation and hardship suffered by Kenya’s workers, along with full respect for fundamental labor standards, including the right to organize and collectively bargain. According to some sources, unemployment in the country has now reached a staggering 40 percent, with the employed workforce facing a significant drop in its real wages. Over the past 30 years, poverty has risen from 29 percent to a shocking 57 percent of the population. Such a social and economic crisis severely threatens the survival of Kenyan democracy and nonviolence.
Along with ITUC Africa, the AFL-CIO salutes and honors the workers and the entire population of Kenya for their courage not only in withstanding the recent nightmare of violence, but in finding a way out of it. The international community, including our global labor movement, must not abandon them at this critical moment.