The contribution of the church in promoting workers’ rights in light of rerum novarum in Mutolere Parish

Abstract

The topic for this research is: “The contribution of the Church in promoting workers’ rights in light of Rerum Novarum in Mutolere Parish”. The questions that guided the research are: What is the level of awareness of the rights of workers in Mutolere Parish? Are the rights of workers respected? What is the contribution of the Church towards the promotion of the rights of workers in Mutolere parish? How has the church been impeded in her appeal of promotion of rights of workers in Mutolere Parish? What are the best procedures and avenues the Church can utilize to address the promotion of rights of workers? The researcher used a cross-section design with both descriptive qualitative and quantitative technique of data collection. Qualitative information was obtained through key informants and conducting interviews. Quantitative data was obtained from respondents who after issuing them with questionnaires, answered and returned them to the researcher. The findings indicate that the Church has contributed in promoting the rights of workers whereby she strongly condemns abuse of workers’ rights. The Church has also provided employment opportunities to workers by employing them in her institutions such as hospitals, schools, tea plantation and agricultural farms. The Church promotes fair and just strikes as the last resort for addressing the grievances of workers, but must not be violent and destructive. The Church has also brought about awareness and re-sensitization of workers’ rights. However, the challenges encountered by the Church in promoting the rights of workers are: High unemployment rate, inadequate funds to finance all her effort, unfavourable government policy which does not execute minimum wage policy and monitor the possibility of contracts. At some moments, the Church becomes a victim in the abuse of workers’ rights. The plight of child labour and exploitation of women is another threat for the Church. Despite the challenges encountered, there are also suggested solutions to these problems. The process of amalgamating the effort of government and non-governmental organizations is one of the suggested solutions. Improving and empowering workers’ association and trade unions is also vital for the Church in contributing to the promotion of workers’ rights. These associations help workers to be in solidarity and also creating a mutual dialogue between workers and their employers. More sensitization is also another suggested solution. Church becoming a role model is also very paramount. The Church will do well to preach both in word and deed. Empowering institutions and Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations and strongly condemning child labour and exploitation of women especially young mothers