There are 4 reasons why REWU was established
1. Advocacy for Labour Rights, safety and health at working place
When mining and quarrying was becoming one of the most lucrative activities in our country, the number of workers in the country increased significantly, while a big number of them was deprived their rights to remuneration because they were considered not productive, informal employees without contracts nor social security protection to RSSB, many death at working place due to accident and insufficiency of occupational safety and health at work place, etc….which in turn had a negative impact on their livelihoods since the rights of the employee were not properly respected,
2. Promotion of Saving Culture
Within the same framework, those who were to be paid, had to receive their salaries in hands, which in return results into failure to save and based on such circumstances, REWU started mobilization campaign on developing saving culture among the industry workers while at the same time sensitizing employers to pay salaries via the financial institutions.
3. Promotionof Rights of Women and Children in Mining and Quarrying Industry
Since the Mining guidelines prohibiting children from reaching mines and quarries, it was detrimental to pregnant women or those with children, they had to hide that they are pregnant or have children in order to stay at work and that put them (Women and Children) at risk because it would be a job to earn a living but still violate the rights of the child and the parent. Therefore, after realising all of those issues REWU started campaigning for the Establishment of ECDs near mines and queries sites where children are taken care while parents are safely continuing the job.
4. Campaigning against Child labour
Children under the age of 18 also dropped out of school and came to look for work in mines and quarries that had no legal documents, and this is where REWU also decided to put more focus in order to campaign against Child labour.
Some children accompany their parents mostly in quarries in order to increase the production for getting more many as family, and other children are looking after the babies in the quarries, sugar cane, cross border business, road business, etc…. REWU fights for eliminating those kinds of job employed to the children.