Maravi

(LUSAKATIMES) Pay or don’t employ, Shamenda tells employers

Pay or don’t employ, Shamenda tells employers
TIME PUBLISHED - Saturday, July 21, 2012, 10:12 am

THOSE who cannot afford to pay the revised minimum wages should not employ domestic, shop or general workers so that they do the work themselves, Minister of Labour and Social Securities Fackson Shamenda has said.

Mr Shamenda said people claiming to be ‘too poor’ to pay maids and other workers who fall under the revised minimum wage category should do the menial jobs themselves. He said this in Parliament yesterday during questions for oral answer.

Mr Shamenda said this in response to Mafinga member of Parliament (MP) Catherine Namugala (MMD) who asked how low income workers such as teachers will afford to pay their maids following the revised minimum wage.

He replied that the Patriotic Front (PF) government has an obligation to protect the interest of all workers, especially the marginalised. Mr Shamenda said most employers can afford to pay workers the revised minimum wage but are just trying to be selfish.

He said Government has not received meaningful submissions from the Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) over the revised minimum wage. “This government will not allow employers to continue paying workers slave wages. When are we going to become a humane society?

“We are aware that most of the people who are complaining get a salary of K20 million per month and 15 percent of that is K3 million which can enable them to employ six maids. And we are also aware that some people get K750,000 as an allowance for working out of town per night and yet they are against the minimum wage,” he said.

Mr Shamenda said big companies and individual entities continue to frustrate vulnerable workers. He maintained that Government has no apologies to make over the revised minimum wages. Mr Shamenda revealed that the ministry has also engaged the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to assist in reviewing and overhauling all labour laws in conformity with the prevailing living standards.

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Labour Rayford Mbulu told the House that the ZFE proposed a 15 percent increment on the previous minimum wage of K250,000 for domestic workers. Mr Mbulu, however, said the Minister of labour is empowered by law to ultimately determine the minimum wage after consultations.

Meanwhile, the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the Copperbelt University Students Union (COBUSU) have separately welcomed Government’s decision to revise the minimum wage. ZCTU secretary-general Roy Mwaba said the revised minimum wage is one of the tools Government can use to ensure shared prosperity.

“ZCTU has the mandate to fight for living wages and it can be acknowledged that even the revised rates of the minimum wage do not meet the tenets of a living wage,” Mr Mwaba said. He said the ZCTU does not believe that increasing the minimum wage will always lead to loss of jobs.

Mr Mwaba said the relationship between minimum wages and unemployment is an issue that requires deeper analysis with empirical evidence to show the correlation between the two. He, however, noted that there was little consultation by Government with other stakeholders.

COBUSU president Thompson Luzendi said the students are happy with the increase of the minimum wage. “We are extremely disappointed and shocked with the negative reactions exhibited by some members of the public against Government’s decision to increase the minimum wage,” Mr Luzendi said.

He said most Zambians are happy with the revision because poor workers have been exploited in the past. “We also appeal to the many poor Zambians to support the revised minimum wage and also to support the current Government on this matter because it’s us the poor people who are affected. This is a pro-poor law,” Mr Luzendi said.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

Labels: CATHERINE NAMUGALA, FACKSON SHAMENDA, MINIMUM WAGE

posted by MrK @ 1:38 AM