UGANDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKERS TO RESUME INDUSTRIAL ACTION

By Onzoma Albert

Arua City

The Uganda Local Government Workers Union (ULGWU) has announced it will resume industrial action starting from midnight on Monday, April 13, 2026, affecting all local governments nationwide.

The union initially initiated the industrial action on October 1, 2025, which was temporarily suspended, but union leaders have repeatedly threatened to resume protests if the government fails to fulfill commitments on salary enhancements.

Hassan Lwabayi Mudiba, the union’s general secretary, issued a notice on April 10, 2026, informing members, government officials, and the public about the resumption of the industrial action.

“In order to pressurize government to adhere to our demands we are resuming our industrial action because we had called it off purposely to give a negotiation chance to get amicably solutions which has failed, so Monday 13th April 2026, we are resuming our nationwide industrial action and I expect all our members to take part because if we don’t advocate for our rights no one will advocate for us, our theme for the industrial action is local government workers wake up for your right,” he said.

Mudiba explained that the decision is based on the workers’ economic rights under Article 40(3) and sections 11(1) and (2) of the Public Service Act, which grant workers the right to withdraw their labor according to the law.

“As everyone might be aware of our fight for salary enhancement, we gave government a notice to resume our industrial action but up to now we have not got any effective response, although when we met at public service ministry they told us that they were going to enhance salaries for officers in U1 and U2, they have not put it in writing and the cost of living is so high that people are not affording in line with what they are getting,” he added.

The union’s grievances include the high cost of living and the government’s inadequate response to salary increase demands. They are protesting against salary disparities and the failure to honor promises made under the 2018 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which they deem discriminatory.

According to Mudiba, despite the planned industrial action, the union remains open to dialogue with the government to resolve employment issues.

The union leadership emphasized their intent to address the issues related to workers’ welfare and salaries but highlighted that the industrial action is necessary to press for government action on their demands.

The resumption of protests underscores ongoing dissatisfaction among local government workers over their wages and working conditions, and it may affect the delivery of government services at the local level.