Maravi

ZFE head is rotten, says Shamenda

ZFE head is rotten, says Shamenda
By Darious Kapembwa, Edwin Mbulo and Gift Chanda
Fri 13 July 2012, 14:01 CAT

LABOUR minister Fackson Shamenda says the executive of the Zambia Federation of Employers is "rotten" following their rejection of the new minimum wage announced on Wednesday. But CSPR says many employers may not adhere to the new minimum wage because of high taxes they have to pay to the government.

Meanwhile, Livingstone Tourism Association chairperson Kingsley Lilamono says many tour operators will have difficulties adjusting to the increased minimum wage.
During a health and safety exhibition at Hotel Edinburgh in Kitwe yesterday, Shamenda said the government's decision to increase the minimum wage was in its quest to improve the welfare of citizens.

He was reacting to ZFE president Alfred Masupha's statement that the proposed minimum wage for domestic workers and shopkeepers to K522,000 and K1.1 million respectively per month was absurd.

"The PF government is an inclusive government, we want to take decisions in the interest of all stakeholders. But the Zambia Federation of Employers, we want to improve the lives of vulnerable workers and you say it's absurd? We increase workers salaries from K250,000 to K522,000, you complain? What kind of selfishness is that? This country has a lot of selfish characters.

Next time we have the tripartite consultative labour council, you let this person Masupha come with his payslip. Let us see if he gets K520,000," Shamenda said amidst murmurs of approval from the audience. "Not everyone, but some people in the federation are very selfish.

The head of the federation is rotten, to say the least. I am forced to say all this because of the behaviour of this man. Why can't some people be like President Sata, a man of humility, a man who is considerate and a man who has a heart for the poor?"

Meanwhile, Shamenda has asked those who work in precarious environments to refuse to go for work without protective clothing.

"I appeal to all these workers, do not accept to work without any protective clothing. You will be protected," he said.

Shamenda, however, urged the Zambian workers to improve their attitude towards work.
"If you work for a Chinese company, you wake up at 04:00 hours but when you work in government, you wake up at 08:00 hours," said Shamenda.

And Lilamono said he feared for people's jobs in the tourism sector as a result of the new minimum wage.

"I see a lot of employers laying off some of the staff due to the inability to pay the required wages. Already Livingstone is affected by low tourist arrivals which stand at 40 per cent. My appeal and if it is possible, the government should allow the tourism sector to contract some workers below the minimum wage as long as they are on contracts," he said.

Lilamono, however, commended President Sata for unbundling the foreign affairs and tourism ministry, saying LTA had raised concerns when this was set up after the PF assumed office.

And commenting on the revised minimum wage, the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction expressed concern that the upward adjustment of the minimum wage may not be followed by most formal workers, who are also employers, because most of their salaries are not in line with the prevailing economic indicators.

CSPR explained that the majority of formal employees earning above K2 million, some of them who also employ domestic workers, are still being overtaxed.

"The current PAYE threshold that exempts formal workers earning K2 million and below from paying is commendable. Our concern, nevertheless, is the high percentages of the different PAYE tax the majority formal employees earning above K2 million incur," stated CSPR yesterday.

Labels: CSPR, FACKSON SHAMENDA, MINIMUM WAGE, ZFE

posted by MrK @ 2:13 PM