Investigation of Industrial relations and working conditions of textile and garment factories in Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

The transformation of the Ethiopian economy involves creation of conducive environment to attract local and international investors on manufacturing industries in general and on textile and garment sector in particular. Since the textile and garment sector is one of the labour intensive manufacturing industries, the government of Ethiopia is working to ensure on industrial relations and working conditions meeting international standards. Besides, research institutions are working to modernize the relationships between workers and their employers on this sector. As part of this effort, this research has conducted a study on industrial relations and working conditions observed in textile and garment factories in the northern Ethiopian context. The study took workers and management of the selected factories and it has concentrated on the availability of labour in relation to their working environment. During the study, face to face interviews, focus group discussions, field visits and observations and sample survey on manufacturing plants of the selected cases have been used. The investigation considering the involvement of the management and labour unions, for example, showed that only 6.8 per cent of the sampled population said the relation between the management/employer and workers is poor while 26 and 42 per cent reported the relationship is very strong and strong respectively. This proves the impact of their smooth relationship to the productivity improvement of the factories.