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Unions are negotiating under duress - FFTUZ

Unions are negotiating under duress - FFTUZ
By Kabanda Chulu
Mon 26 Mar. 2012, 11:58 CAT

TRADE unions are negotiating under duress unless government amends the industrial and labour relations Act that currently empowers employers to withdraw recognition agreement from a trade union by application to government, says FFTUZ national secretary Lyson Mando.

Speaking at the ZUFIAW professional negotiators' forum, whose objective was sharpening the skills of negotiators and building their knowledge base and expertise, Mando on Friday challenged the government to put in place labour reforms which recognise fundamental rights such as the right to join a trade union of employees' choice, right to collective bargaining and freedom to organise.

"These rights were diluted in 2008 by the MMD government which amended the Act to empower employers to initiate the process of withdrawing recognition agreement from a trade union by application to government. This sad development has resulted in compromising the power relations in the bargaining process as trade unions are currently negotiating under duress," Mando said.

"Employers are engaging in the take-it-or-leave-it mode of bargaining instead of the traditional give-and-take mode, and this is resulting in delays in concluding collective agreements."

He said the other amendment to the industrial and labour relations Act empowers the government to interfere in the trade union leadership by means of dissolving a duly elected union executive on suspicion of financial impropriety.

"This action is taken without regard to appropriate trade union structures where leadership is constitutionally accountable to. FFTUZ has been lobbying the new government to find ways of restoring the lost rights and we are hopeful the process initiated by the PF government in consultation with ILO to realign Zambian labour laws with international labour standards will soon be concluded and enacted into law so that Zambian workers are not subjected to poor wages and conditions of service."

And ZUFIAW president Cephas Mukuka urged Bank of Zambia Governor Dr Michael Gondwe to build on the spirit of mutual consultations and dialogue that was started by his predecessor Dr Caleb Fundanga.

"We have previously provided the central bank with informed insights about unsound activities in the banking sector which led to corrective measures being taken in time to save the industry. When workers fail to be whistle-blowers, what follows is the destruction of jobs and livelihoods due to corporate failures arising from greed," said Mukuka.

Labels: CEPHAS MUKUKA, FFTUZ, LYSON MANDO, UNIONS, ZUFIAW

posted by MrK @ 11:23 PM