Maravi

Take advantage of Labour Day and show displeasure to govt – Mwila

Take advantage of Labour Day and show displeasure to govt – Mwila
Written by Moses Kuwema and Masuzyo Chakwe
Friday, May 01, 2009 2:48:46 PM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) chairman for labour Davies Mwila has said this year's Labour Day celebrations will be sad for the workers in country

And the Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has said the current job losses in the country are a national crisis that require government's focused energies and political will to be exercised if the many lives of productive citizens are to be saved.

In his message to mark this year's Labour Day, which falls today, Mwila said the workers should therefore take advantage of the day and show their displeasure to the government.

"My message to the workers is that though this is their day and they cannot boycott it, they should show government their displeasure because they are not happy," Mwila said.

He said many workers had been affected by the job losses in the mines and that the government had failed to address the problem.

"I recall the ministers of mines and labour had indicated to the nation that very few people would be declared redundant but the opposite has happened, more people have lost jobs in the mines. From the time our colleagues have been negotiating for better conditions of service, nothing has come out. Government promised to review the employment Act on minimum wages but up to now there is nothing," Mwila said.

He noted that the minimum wage is the determining factor whenever someone is employed.

"The minimum wage... right now it stands at K268,000. Now you can imagine if a Zambian is employed by a Chinese and they give them the same amount as salary. It becomes difficult to challenge that employer because he will show you the law which says K268,000 is the minimum wage," he said.

Mwila said the government had all the answers to the current problems that workers faced.

And NGOCC executive director Engwase Mwale said this year's commemoration of Labour Day would unfortunately be characterised by sadness in that Zambia had registered unprecedented levels of job losses especially in the mining and manufacturing industries.

Mwale said at the same time, capital flights in a number of investment portfolios had been recorded.

"The lesson we carry and expect government, private sector and other key stakeholders to take on is indeed the urgency with which diversification of our economy must receive," she said.

She said while recognising the challenges that the global economic crisis had posed, the recent national indaba hosted by government, focused on exploring opportunities that the crisis presents.

Mwale said receiving top priority was the need to transform the economy through diversification and serious economic literacy by our leaders.

She said in calling for action, NGOCC reminded the government and other players of some of the practical measures agreed upon at the indaba.

She said NGOCC believed that all these measures, and more, had the potential of easing the burden on the few formally employed citizens [in terms of high personal taxes] and provided opportunities for all other citizens to participate in the economy.

Mwale said creation of employment would also be promoted in many ways only if government prioritised implementation through adequate resource provision.

Mwale urged government leaders to re-focus on enhancing their economic analysis capacities in order to benefit the country.

"Our leaders must seriously invest in human capital development so that equal opportunities for job creation and other wealth creating avenues," said Mwale.

Labels: DAVIES MWILA, LABOUR, NGOCC

posted by MrK @ 1:50 PM