Maravi

FFTUZ to take on new govt over workers’ conditions

FFTUZ to take on new govt over workers’ conditions
Written by Allan Mulenga

FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde has said no amount of intimidation by the new government would deter union leaders from advocating better working conditions for the workers.

And Nonde has said the call by labour minister Austin Liato to engage the labour movement in dialogue was an admission that the MMD government had failed to address workers’ interests.

In an interview yesterday, Nonde said the new government should not resort to threats whenever workers demanded for improved working conditions.

“We don’t want the things that were happening in the previous government to start occurring again in this new cabinet where workers have been constantly threatened with dismissal by government leaders whenever they press for improved conditions,” she said.

Nonde said the new administration was destined to fail if it attempted to adopt policies aimed at intimidating the labour movement.

“World-over, no single government has succeeded with intimidation of the labour movement. I would like to warn the new administration that it risks being de-campaigned by the unions if it adopts strategies aimed at frustrating workers,” she said.

And Nonde said although the union movement had welcomed the promise by the new labour minister to engage in dialogue with union leaders, the sentiment was a clear manifestation that the MMD were guilty of having done very little for workers.

“We know there is nothing the MMD can boast about when it comes to improving the conditions of workers. No wonder you saw during the just-ended presidential election that people in urban areas did not vote for them,” she said.

Nonde said during the past regimes, workers had been subjected to poor working conditions, hence the need for the new Cabinet to address the interests of workers.

“What we want as a union is to demand for better working conditions of the workers and our hope is that the new Cabinet will take the interests of workers first, unlike the past governments where workers were not given an opportunity to air their grievances,” said Nonde.

The newly-appointed labour minister Austin Liato on Sunday promised to engage the labour movement into dialogue, so as to address critical labour issues.

Liato said the outcome of the just-ended presidential election especially in urban areas, revealed that workers and the labour movement were not satisfied with the way the government had handled labour issues.

Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE, LABOUR

posted by MrK @ 6:35 AM