Maravi

Trade unions have let workers down - Sata

Trade unions have let workers down - Sata
By Brighton Phiri
Wednesday July 25, 2007 [04:00]

THE current labour aleadership has let down the workers, opposition Patriotic Front president Michael Sata has charged. Sata said with the exception of the Joyce Nonde-led Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW), the labour movement had been compromised by the market forces. He said Zambians were let down by the labour leaders such that the people had not been told the full details of agreements between the government and foreign investors.

"Here we are today...a foreign bank has taken over our Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco)...the people's bank without them knowing the considerations. With an exception of Joyce Nonde, the labour movement has been compromised," Sata said.

He said the country's current labour leaders had failed to live up to the leadership qualities of the late Justine Chiimba, Lawrence Katilungu and Robinson Puta, among others, who stood for the workers' plight during the days of workers' uprising.
"We want to know the deal between government and Albidon mining company in Mazabuka. All we receive are insults from Levy. Where is the labour movement when government is surrendering Nchanga mine to an investor with only a price tag which is equivalent to 3, 000 metric tonnes of copper?"

Sata said PF would revoke all the mining agreements which the MMD government had signed with the foreign investors and review all the ownership of the parastatal companies that were sold during the privatisation process.

"When we come into power, we shall give 25 per cent shareholding to the workers, then 26 per cent will go to the public while 49 per cent will be given to the so called investors. We shall not surrender the workers' rights to the foreign investors," he said. "We must always remember that some people lost their lives to bring our mines to where they are today. So we can't sell them for a song. We will definitely revoke the mining agreements and all the former parastatals will go to the workers. It is not a threat but the fact."
He said Zambians would use their 51 per cent ownership to protect themselves from inhuman treatment and pollution.

Sata said Zambia needed serious investors like those of Taiwan, who had invested in the railway system of that country.

"Those are serious investors we want," he said.
Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) vice-president Sam Phiri asked Sata to concentrate his efforts on talking about issues affecting his political constituency.
He said it was unfortunate that Sata chose to mislead the nation over labour matters.
Phiri said it was untrue that the labour leaders had failed to speak for the workers.
"For Sata to blame others on labour matters it is unfortunate....he has got his facts wrong...he is offside on labour issues," Phiri said.

But Sata insisted that he was competent enough to talk about labour matters because he was a product of a vibrant labour movement.

"During our days, we worked for the workers and fought for their rights," he said.
And Sata said President Mwanawasa was finished in the face of his own hired foreign advisors.

Commenting on the differences between President Mwanawasa and chairman of the Zambia International Business Advisory Council (ZIBAC) Lord Simon Cairns during the 5th ZIBCA conference in Livingstone, Sata said Cairns' observations that Zambia had over the last three years made very little progress economically with regard to implementation of recommendations made by his council, confirmed President Mwanawasa's failures.

"Those people whom he hired at the country's great cost have confirmed Levy's failures. Levy should be ashamed that when Levy came into power, he ignored the Zambian brains in the industry and recruited retired foreign experts, whom today are telling him that he has failed to implement their recommendations," Sata said.
"Levy should account for the costs that the country is incurring to bring in those experts and fete them in Livingstone."

President Mwanawasa, who officiated at the 5th ZIBAC conference being held in Livingstone, differed with Lord Cairns over concerns that the Zambian government had not acted on some recommendations saying this would discourage investments.
This was after Lord Cairns indicated that a number of steps agreed in the 2004 report had not been acted upon.

"I am going to be very frank. We have had this range of meetings and have developed a series of ideas and reports with both the public and private sector. In a number of cases, we have reached sensible agreements but quite frankly, nothing much has happened over the last two to three years," Lord Cairns said.

"There are 72 steps that we agreed upon in 2004 but have not been acted upon to date. Independent people that have been coming have said they haven't seen a lot of work being done. There are quite a number of things needing change although I know that change is painful and it doesn't always suit everyone."

But President Mwanawasa said he disagreed with Lord Cairns over his concerns that little had been done on recommendations of the ZIBAC council.

"I don't agree with Lord Cairns that very little has been achieved since we started our meetings as ZIBAC. You yourself earlier acknowledged that Zambia is not what it used to be some 15 years ago. It is somewhat discouraging to some of us in the business of developing Zambia," President Mwanawasa said.

Among the issues recommended to the government by the ZIBAC advisors in 2004 was the liberalisation of the International Gateway (IGW), which is currently operated by the Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel).

Labels: SATA, TRADE UNIONS

posted by MrK @ 6:11 AM