Maravi

Shoprite management agrees to give workers pension scheme

Shoprite management agrees to give workers pension scheme
Written by Ernest Chanda in Lusaka and Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Thursday, August 13, 2009 1:59:35 PM

SHOPRITE-ZAMBIA management has agreed to give its employees a pension scheme based on local conditions as demanded by the workers. National Union for Commercial and Industrial Workers (NUCIW) general secretary John Bwalya confirmed in an interview yesterday that Shoprite Group chief executive officer Whiteney Basson who had a meeting with labour minister Austin Liato agreed to the workersí demands.

“We met with the minister, Honourable Austin Liato and his deputy Simon Kachimba, accompanied by officials from the Labour Commissioner’s office. Shoprite Group chief executive officer Mr Basson was very cooperative and weíve agreed to calculate the pension based on the number of years a person has worked. The scheme will be worked out at our local rate of 2.5 months per year served,” said Bwalya.

“Right now we are waiting for a Memorandum of Understanding which we shall sign at about 13:00 hours. This pension scheme is expected to start working on the 1st of September, 2009. And Shoprite management will be transferring these monies to the pension scheme every month.”

And earlier before management and the union reached an agreement on the workersí conditions, Shoprite employees in Kitwe vowed not to resume work until their grievances are met by their management.

A check at Shoprite Kitwe branch located on Matuka Road yesterday morning found workers seated while displaying placards denouncing management.

The workers also urged the government to seriously intervene in the matter and ensure that conditions of service for Zambian workers were improved.

They said the cost of living in Zambia was too high and management should not subject them to the conditions of their counterparts in South Africa.

Labels: AUSTIN LIATO, LABOUR, NUCIW, SHOPRITE, WHITENEY BASSON

posted by MrK @ 1:00 PM