Revised minimum wage still meagre, says unionist
By Sandra Lombe in Livingstone
Mon 24 Jan. 2011, 03:59 CAT
THE revised minimum wage is still meagre, according to the Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union of Zambia. Union president Mubiana Sitwala said the minimum wage of K419,000 would not help the workers in the country given the prevailing economic situation.
“The tripartite consultative labour council has been working on this piece of legislation for over six years on end. The question that begs is, how this meagre minimum wage of K419,000 was arrived at. I am wondering what criteria they used,” Sitwala said.
“Looking at the figure, it appears like employers dictated that figure to the government officials that were present during the consultative process. What sort of input did representatives of the workers put in? Was the engagement process transparent? Was consensus attained and did the tripartite labour council resolve to settle on the K419,000 as the final figure? If not who determined the closing figure of K419,000?”
He wondered how the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) would be attained if the wages encouraged and supported poverty stricken salaries.
“The decent work agenda is another of the goals Zambia has embarked on. May I be advised how we are going to reach this when we promote exploitative wages,” he said. “We have on several occasions argued that the minimum threshold for tax exemption be raised to the food basket mark. The minimum wage should align to realities on the ground in terms of the living conditions of the community where it operates.”
Sitwala said the minimum wage was detached from reality.
He said the theory of the living wage should not alienate itself from the minimum wage.
“When the government sets the exemption threshold to K1 million it simply means this is the take-home-pay of the lowly paid workers in the country. How then does the same government contradict itself when determining the minimum wage that is two times below the tax exempt threshold?” Sitwala said.
He said the government which was supposed to protect the workers who were not in the bargaining unit had once again chosen to expose them to gross exploitation.
“We seem to promote deprivation of workers whilst employers are engaged in profiteering. We boast of huge development in the country without corresponding benefits to the people of Zambia,” he said.
Sitwala said the government should come up with a new calculated and thought out minimum wage before employers take advantage of the situation.
Last week, the government announced that the minimum wage had been revised from K268,000 to K419,000.
Labels: MINIMUM WAGE, MUBIANA SITWALA
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‘Govt should listen to calls for windfall tax’
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Sat 04 Dec. 2010, 04:00 CAT
A LABOUR leader says the government should heed the people’s call over the windfall tax. Mubiana Sitwala, the president of the Hotel Catering and Allied Workers of Zambia (HCAWUZ), said many sectors in the country were heavily taxed and yet they did not make as much money as the mines.
“I appeal to the government to pay attention to many observations that have been made by various economists and envoys over the windfall tax. Let Situmbeko Musokotwane tell the President the true value of windfall tax,” Sitwala said in an interview yesterday.
“I see no reason why the MMD government is being jittery over the introduction of this tax when mines are making huge profits over our resources.”
Sitwala said the country’s tax regime was highly biased towards the formal sector.
“We have repeatedly submitted to the government to vigorously capture the formal sector in a bid to raise the necessary revenue for the country. This has always fallen on deaf ears as the government seems to lack capacity to implement mechanisms on how to collect this revenue,” Sitwala said.
“This tax is self regulatory as it only captures the excess profit on revenue. The argument being put across by those supporting the outright removal of windfall tax lacks comprehension. I would have expected the government to listen to divergent views when they come up with decisions of this nature.”
He said the workers had continued to pay heavy taxes from their meagre salaries and yet multinational companies had continued to enjoy tax exemptions.
“This trend cannot continue and it is high time we put measures for our posterity to benefit from wasted resources like copper. We advocate for a strict tax regime, that will benefit the country and windfall tax is not a burden to mine owners. We should not treat investors with jelly hands, while they exploit our resources to their benefit,” Sitwala said.
He said the country could benefit from the windfall tax and subsequently improve the social sector. Sitwala said it was illogical for the government not to listen to professional advice and instead give political answers.
“I thought that commerce minister Felix Mutati was an expert on economic issues, but his recent statement on the windfall tax leaves me with a lot of worries when it comes to mixing politics and economics,” Sitwala said.
He said the government was busy using President Rupiah Banda to campaign for next year’s elections and showing the nation the schools and hospitals that were currently being constructed.
“Where will the teachers come from? Where will the educational materials come from? The hospitals need equipment and medicines and these can only be procured using profits from the mines instead of relying on tax payers moneys,” said Sitwala.
Labels: HCAWUZ, MUBIANA SITWALA, WINDFALL TAX
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HCAWUZ warns champions of ACC Act amendment
By Edwin Mbulo
Mon 15 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT
HOTEL, Catering and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (HCAWUZ) president Mubiana Sitwala says that the labour movement will make the removal of the ACC abuse of office clause a campaign issue next year. Sitwala said attempts by those calling for the removal of the abuse of office clause should be viewed as retrogressive and highly malicious.
“It is highly provoking and thought-poking to continuously hear those charged with powers to uphold and protect the constitution defend the removal of a very successful piece of legislation,” he said.
Sitwala questioned the mischief with the law.
“I wonder what the mischief is; it is seemingly inconveniencing them. The clause has managed to successfully convict abusive civil servants; hence sending panic to would-be offenders.
That is the only reason that can be advanced to escape the inevitable that will catch up with them when they leave office,” he said.
Sitwala said that the MMD government was guilty before proven innocent.
“Let not MMD get away with what does not belong to them.
We would like to send a reminder to those that are supporting people to abuse their offices and get away with it that time will catch up with them.
They will win today but tomorrow is coming and to all morally upright leaders, let's stand and challenge corruption wherever it shows its ugly face,” said Sitwala.
Labels: ACC, CORRUPTION, HCAWUZ, MUBIANA SITWALA
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HCAWUZ condemns Royal Solwezi’s ‘T-shirt awards’ for Labour Day
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone and Fridah Zinyama in Lusaka
Wed 05 May 2010, 03:10 CAT
HOTEL Catering and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (HCAWUZ) president Mubiana Sitwala says it is shameful and an insult for the Royal Solwezi Hotel to give workers T-shirts as Labour Day awards.
But Royal Solwezi Hotel managing director Litana Shindaile refuted claims that the T-shirts were meant as rewards for deserving employees, adding that the truck carrying the awards to be presented to the employees and other items was delayed at Kazungula Border Post.
Commenting on Royal Solwezi Hotel’s awarding of T-shirts to three of its workers for hard work during Saturday’s Labour Day celebrations, Sitwala said it was clear some investors had lost respect for the government and workers.
“What employers or investors should know is that when they come into Zambia to invest, there is Labour Day on the Zambian calendar and they have a year to prepare decent awards to give to deserving workers instead of ending up insulting workers by giving t-shirts worth K20, 000,” Sitwala said. “It is not only Royal Solwezi Hotel. We have some investors even here in Livingstone who awarded workers up to K100, 000.
It is an insult and we have compiled a list so we are basically saying that all the employers in our industry who gave less than K5 million as awards to workers are being given 48 hours to award workers more decently or risk being black-listed by our union. We have the power to force organisations and government not to do business with these investors in terms of conferences and workshops.”
He said the union had been trying very hard to get employers in the hospitality industry to have their workers registered with the labour movement but that the labour department had been in many instances compromised by the employers.
“We have had a lot of cases involving abuse of workers rights and every time workers report, they are met with a lot of negative attitude by some labour officers who seem to be getting brown envelopes from employer’s mostly foreign ones. We have a list of such employers who are culprits and we want the government to sit down with us to review the performances of most of these so-called investors,” he said.
Sitwala said the Solwezi case was a clear sign that some employers had lost respect for the government.
“We need a harsh minister of labour if we are to get the respect we deserve from some employers.
If you take a survey out there, you will find that most of these employers are even evading tax by downsizing the number of their employees. Worse still, the Royal Solwezi Hotel incidence is loss of respect for government by the employer. I would not be surprised to find that the hotel is found wanting in many areas of their operations,” he said.
He said the government should review most of the investment licences of certain hotels and lodges.
“We have offered them a very good and conducive atmosphere to do business but what do we get in return as the owners of the land?
It is insults and abuse of workers as seen by a lot of the investors in the hospitality industry who don’t want to have their workers belong to a union of their choice. So to this end, we are giving Royal Solwezi Hotels 48 hours to award the three workers up to K5 million as per Labour Day circular.”
Phillip Mudumuka, Henry Kapamendi and Mirriam Kayebeta were awarded T-shirts as Labour Day awards.
However Shindaile yesterday that the spirit of getting both sides was not exercised when the story was first written.
“The awards for the employees were bought from South Africa and could not be presented during the occasion because the truck carrying them and other items was delayed at Kazungula Border Post,” he explained.
“As a responsible corporate social partner, we feel that it will be demotivating and below acceptable standards for a hotel such as Royal Solwezi to award t-shirts to its deserving employees during Labour Day celebrations. The T-shirts that were taken to the podium were meant for deserving employees to wear as representatives of Royal Solwezi and not prizes as portrayed by the people who put together the event.”
Shindaile said contrarily to the picture portrayed during the Labour Day celebrations, the hotel management had made necessary arrangements to buy awards for the workers which would reflect the true meaning for the occasion.
“As soon as the goods are delivered, I will personally take them to the labour office who will in turn give them to the recipients,” he said.
He said the deserving workers would be given reasonable prizes as soon as the parcels arrived.
Shindaile said Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) provincial secretary Benson Ng’ambi (who criticized the award) was creating animosity between employers and the workers because of his hidden agendas which are only designed to discredit investors in the area.
“We know that it is not always a must that the awards are given to employees during the Labour Day Celebration. Some companies give them out later to suit their programmes and convenience,” he said.
Shindaile said that Benson had a personal agenda to drive and should not drag other people into his battles.
Labels: HCAWUZ, LABOUR DAY, MUBIANA SITWALA
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Rupiah has misplaced agenda on good governance, observes Sitwala
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Tue 13 Apr. 2010, 04:10 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has misplaced agenda’s when it comes to good governance, Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (HCAWUZ) president Mubiana Sitwala has observed.
In an interview yesterday, Sitwala said revelations that the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) had spent K1.8 billion to procure microphones when the conference was almost winding up, was a scam.
“It is a scam being perpetrated by the MMD because it was better to cancel the procurement and pay penalty fees for the liabilities which definitely was not going to be over the purchase cost of the microphones. Our hospitals do not have drugs and the best the NCC could do is buy microphones which would not even be transferred to health institutions or prison after the conference ends.
This is a scam because President Rupiah Banda should have stopped the procurement. I don’t think that I will accept to hear that the President was not aware of the procurement of the microphones,” he said.
Sitwala said if it were a container of pens or not books, he would have supported the idea as any surplus could be given to schools and prisons.
“There is grave misplaced agenda in the MMD government. All one needs to do is look at the reaction to the flood issues in Lusaka, look at the drug issues in all our clinics including Livingstone, which has no TB drugs.
If it was a big container of pens and notebooks I would have said please give the left overs to Katombora Reformatory Prisons in Kazungula and give some to a basic school in chief Mukuni’s area,” he said.
And Sitwala said that Livingstone was far behind neighbouring Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls town, which had suddenly become a preferred destination due to Livingstone’s lack of good service delivery.
“I appeal to local government minister to do what he has done in Milenge where he has uplifted the suspension of the council. We have a World Cup around the corner and our friends in Zimbabwe have already struck some deals to have a lot of tourists coming to the Victoria Falls in between breaks of games. Just two weeks ago Limpopo provincial government officials were in Vic Falls where they have struck a lot of deals to make usage of accommodation and health facilities in Zimbabwe for the Polokwane World Cup games,” said Sitwala.
Labels: CORRUPTION, MUBIANA SITWALA, NCC, RUPIAH BANDA
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