The effectiveness of Trade Union in handling teacher’s grievances in Public sector

Abstract

This study assessed the effectiveness of trade union in handling teacher’s grievances in public sector with reference to TTU in Arusha city council specifically examining mechanisms used by TTU to deal with teachers’ grievances. The study was guided by conflict management theory to explain teachers’ grievance using explanatory research design, mixed research approach, 650 target populations comprising TTU leaders and complaints with 95 sample size (10 TTU leaders and 85 teachers) and simple random sampling techniques. The study involved teachers with complains who filled semi-structured questionnaire and TTU leaders interviewed. Quantitative data collected through questionnaires were analysed using descriptive analysis with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS, Version 25.0) whereas qualitative data from the interview were thematically analyzed. The findings revealed that promotion and training and development were the leading factors towards teachers’ grievances. Also the TTU leaders were using poor mechanism to solve teachers’ grievances such as engagement and dialogue through which were perceived as political oriented not only. For that case TTU leaders failed to curb teachers’ grievances which then are still exiting. The study concludes that the continued teachers’ grievances result from ineffective of TTU leadership and government budget constraints. The study recommends government to increase the budget for promoting the legible teachers.