Zim trade unions warn govt over labour laws amendment

Zim trade unions warn govt over labour laws amendment
By Kingsley Kaswende in Harare, Zimbabwe
Sun 02 May 2010, 23:10 CAT

ZIMBABWE’S inclusive government is headed for a showdown with workers if the government goes ahead to amend the country’s labour laws, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) has warned. The mother body of the country’s workers unions said the planned changes to the labour laws would favour employers at the expense of the working mass.

ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibhebhe said if there were to be any reforms, they should conform to the country’s Labour Act and the recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) report on Zimbabwe, which have a soft spot for the workers.

“The ILO report has made it very clear that our labour law should be in line with international standards,” said Chibhebhe. “We have made the report available to Cabinet and they have responded that they accept the recommendations.”

Finance minister Tendai Biti and industry and international trade minister Welshman Ncube have recently said the current Labour Act would be changed to reflect the prevailing economic environment.
The proposed changes are meant to put a leash on arbitrators so that they award severance packages and salary increments, which reflect the economic performance of given companies.

Two weeks ago, Biti, when reviewing the budget’s performance for the 2010 first quarter, said the reforms would constrain the labour market, which together with other factors was responsible for building inflation pressures.

“Reflective of the high risk arising from unmet wage demands or poor wage offers are the large number of arbitration cases pertaining to both the public and the private sectors,” said Biti. “This risk is arising from the apparent inflexibility of the labour market.

Hence, government will expedite the review of both labour laws and the related institutional arrangements, with a view to bringing flexibility to the labour market and ensuring that wage and salary payments are within the capacity of the economy.”

Biti has since frozen salary increments for civil servants until further notice, and the move is expected to be replicated in the private sector.

But ZCTU deputy secretary general Japhet Moyo said the government was on a collision course with workers should the proposed changes take effect.

“We are beginning to see clearly who is pro-workers and who is not. The ZCTU is not taking lightly this matter and will be soon acting on it,” Moyo said.

“The ZCTU demands that Biti retracts his ill-informed statements and concentrate on reviving the economy. He should be man enough to admit that he has failed rather than using workers as a scapegoat.

We will not stand by and allow him to make a mockery of the workers, and maybe he should just shut up and go back to the courtroom.”
The ZCTU argues that the current inability by the industry to take care of workers’ concerns are caused by underperformance by industry itself, not the worker.

“The poverty datum line is calculated on the basis of basic commodities and it is not determined by the ZCTU,” said ZCTU leader Chibhebhe. “The failure to meet workers' wage demands cannot be blamed on the workers but the non-performance of industry which is operating at 30 per cent.”
He said there was nothing for the workers in the current labour laws.

"Under the current Labour Relations Act, the worker's right to strike is minimal and collective bargaining has failed, as you can see now most workers earn less than US $200 yet the poverty datum line is at around US $500. The strike laws are draconian and the current labour law does not provide for minimum remuneration."