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Zambian workers are still fragmented, says Mwaba

Zambian workers are still fragmented, says Mwaba
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Fri 30 Apr. 2010, 03:20 CAT

ZAMBIA Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary general Roy Mwaba yesterday said the Zambian workers are still fragmented.

Commenting on Labour Day, which falls tomorrow, Mwaba said nothing had changed for the workers from the time the MMD and Frederick Chiluba ascended to power.
He said the policies of the MMD had not changed.

Mwaba said the emphasis of workers was on decent work agenda because the Ministry of Labour and Social Security had adopted the decent work agenda as enshrined in the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention.

He said this entailed that Zambian workers were not interested in job creation but decent job creation, which meant signing contracts with conditions of services and the safety and health of workers.

“…we don’t just need jobs, we need decent jobs,” he said.

Mwaba also said the 15 per cent increment that public workers signed with the government showed unity among unions representing workers.

“This is the first time all the eight public service unions came together to have a collective bargaining process to speak as one big voice. This is encouraging because under the MMD and Chiluba’s rule, workers were fragmented; even now the policies of the MMD haven’t changed apart from the leadership. Workers are still fragmented,” he said.

He said if workers were fragmented, this disadvantaged employers, as they had to bargain with 10 different unions.

However, Mwaba said the 15 per cent was not enough as it fell far from cushioning the hardships the public service workers go through.

But he said given the background and the scenario in Zambia in view of the global financial crisis, the 15 per cent was an achievement.

Mwaba said he knew that the workers would not be happy with the increment but asked them to bear with union officials given the current economic situation.
He said labour was for workers and it should be used to reflect how far people have come.

Mwaba said the union was also concerned about the prizes the employers would give workers.

He urged the employers to be cautious when awarding deserving workers.
Mwaba said the day should not be used for quarrelling or a platform to settle differences.

Labels: ILO, JOBS, ROY MWABA, ZCTU

posted by MrK @ 12:48 PM