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
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Banks’ high interest rates have stifled business growth - ZFE
By Namatama Mundia
Sun 04 July 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) has told commercial banks that the high interest rates being charged have stifled business growth in the country.
Speaking when ZFE board of directors and senior management staff paid a courtesy on the Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) at Citibank, ZFE president Dr George Chabwera said most businesses were unable to acquire debt finance for expansion of businesses which was vital for meaningful employment creation.
Dr Chabwera noted that commercial banks where employers and therefore members of the ZFE whose operations were equally affected by the high cost of doing business in the country like any other businesses.
He called on BAZ to engage with the ZFE and lobby for a reduction in the cost of doing business and an improved business legislation.
Dr Chabwera added that ZFE was concerned with the high interest rates in the country despite a single digit inflation rate and a good economic outlook.
And BAZ chairperson Savior Chibiya, who is also Citibank managing director, acknowledged the fact that interest rates in the country were higher than expected due to several factors other than inflation rate.
“Current default rate on loan repayment stands at 15 per cent when normal default rate is expected to be 6 per cent. The high default rate is a risk factor which builds into high interest rates as banks would like to recover the lost income on non-performing loans,” Chibiya said.
“Other than inflation and default rate, high labour costs of skilled manpower, high legal costs in resolving industrial disputes, high security costs in cash transfers and high telecom expenses all build up into interest rates.”
And responding to a question on why most commercial banks were unable to provide long-term borrowing beyond five years, Chibiya said this would only be possible if depositors develop a culture of keeping their deposits in the bank beyond a period of five years.
He called on the legal fraternity to revisit their fee structure in order to make a contribution towards reducing the cost of doing business in the country.
Chibiya further called on the state to seriously look into the possibility of reducing the cost of telecommunication and also to improve the education system in order for the country to produce enough skilled manpower.
Labels: GEORGE CHABWERA, LENDING RATES, SAVIOR CHIBIYA, ZFE
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Govt’s failure to submit employees’ remittances worry ZFE
By Florence Bupe
Sun 24 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) has cited the government as the biggest culprit in failing to submit employee remittances to pension schemes.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs and Labour, ZFE executive director Harrington Chibanda said default rates in the public service were very high and needed to be addressed.
“The rate of default in the private sector in terms of contribution remittance to NAPSA (National Pensions Scheme Authority) is minimal but within the civil service and quasi government institutions, the default rate is very high,” Chibanda said.
He complained that there was interference from government whenever the Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA) stepped in to address the problem.
“When NAPSA comes in, the powers that be step in and intervene. Whether such issues are followed up as they should be or not is not to our knowledge,” he said.
Chibanda appealed to members of parliament to ensure that the civil service leads by example by ensuring the social security of its workers is guaranteed.
And Chibanda disclosed that the pensions industry had recorded significant growth over the last year mainly as a result of new contributions.
“As at December 31,2008 the net assets for the pension industry was K1.8 trillion, while the latest figures as at September 31, 2009 reveal net assets for the pension industry was K2.065 trillion,” Chibanda explained. “PIA has attributed this increase to new contributions in the schemes and investment returns especially that the capacity markets have rebounded.”
Chibanda, however, said the current pension system in the country was making the cost of doing business high.
He said this had in many cases led to employers opting for casualisation to avoid huge pension schemes for their workers.
He called for a revision of the pension scheme policy in the country for enhanced social security.
Labels: HARRINGTON CHIBANDA, ZFE
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Labour movement willing to work with govt – ZFE
Written by Margaret Mtonga- Habbuno
Monday, April 27, 2009 2:46:59 PM
ZAMBIA Federation of Employers (ZFE) president George Chabwera has said the labour movement is willing to work with the government in addressing problems workers are facing in the country.
Chabwera, in an interview, noted that the Zambian labour market was beset with numerous problems in view of the current harsh economic conditions and hoped that the government would manage to address the challenges.
He said the government needed to address the country’s economic growth challenges with the seriousness they deserved.
“We hope that the government is going to address the labour problems in the country as a lot of workers are suffereinng in this country,” Chabwera said.
He said the labour movement was willing to work with the government in finding solutions to problems facing workers.
There have been massive job losses in the country especially in the mining and other related sectors following the drop in copper prices on the international market.
Rough estimates indicate that over 13,000 jobs have so far been lost, according to unofficial figures from government sources.
“We want to make this statement clear to the government that we are willing to work with them but we will not accept employer bashing,” said Chabwera.
Labels: GEORGE CHABWERA, ZFE
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ECZ’s way of approving projects worry Chabwera
Written by Kabanda Chulu
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 11:15:23 AM
ZAMBIA Federation of Employers (ZFE) president George Chabwera has said the Environmental Council of Zambia is more difficult to local entrepreneurs than foreign investors when approving Environmental Impact Assessments for projects.
And Dr Chabwera has said the ZFE has requested the government and the labour movement to quickly meet to discuss ways of mitigating the impact of the global economic crisis on local industries.
Commenting on President Rupiah Banda’s announcement that the environmental protection and pollution control Act would be reviewed to make it investor friendly whilst protecting the environment, Dr Chabwera said the government should extend the review to the application of the Act.
“When carrying out its mandate of approving environmental impact assessments for projects, the ECZ is more onerous to local investors than foreign ones hence the need to revise the entire Act as well as its mode of application,” Dr Chabwera said,” because it is difficult to see fairness in how the ECZ applies this law especially that projects for local entrepreneurs take long to be approved.”
He said when the global financial crisis started hitting the United States economy, many developing countries thought that they would not be affected.
“The thinking was that we will not be affected but we are severely affected, especially that we rely on primary products (raw materials) and generally the cost of production is still high. But we believe there are things that can be done locally to prevent further crises such as closing down companies that will result in job losses, hence the proposal to convene a tripartite meeting among employers, unions and government,” said Dr Chabwera.
Labels: ECZ, ENVIRONMENT, GEORGE CHABWERA, ZFE
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Power outages could lead to job loses, warns Musenge
By Mutuna Chanda in Lusaka and Zumani Katasefa
Saturday March 29, 2008 [03:00]
OUTGOING Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) president Dan Musenge has warned that the power shortages that the country is experiencing could lead to job losses. And commerce minister Felix Mutati has called for better engagement between the government and employers to be able to attract US $3 billion and create 100,000 jobs this year. Meanwhile, labour deputy minister Austin Liato said the quest for increased productivity should not be allowed to result in workers’ abuse.
Speaking during the ZFE annual general meeting at which new office bearers were being elected in Lusaka yesterday, Musenge said the measure of suspending duty on energy saving devices that President Mwanawasa announced recentlywas not enough and that a lot more needed to be done to address the energy problems that Zambia was facing.
“As we stand now companies and the economy are incurring the costs resulting from the energy problems we are facing,” Musenge said. “There could be staff shed-offs because companies are producing less and those are the implications that need to be addressed.”
Musenge also spoke of the need for the government to reserve land for the expansion of the country’s road network.
He further urged the government to carefully consider its steps before agreeing to the Economic Partnership Agreements that it, together with other African Caribbean and Pacific states, was negotiating with the European Union (EU).
Musenge said Zambia still had to deal with belonging to either the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
But Mutati said Zambia would not choose whether to belong to Comesa or SADC but that the broader perspective was for all African states to belong to one bloc.
Mutati further said additional electricity was needed to sustain the momentum in the economy.
“Today (yesterday) we are receiving bids for Maamba Collieries and part of the plan for it is to have a coal fired power station at Maamba and so that will address part of the problem of the power shortages in the short term,” Mutati said.
And Liato in a speech delivered by labour commissioner Noah Siasimuna said Zambia needed to focus on productivity promotion but that this should not result in workers being abused.
Meanwhile, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) deputy general secretary Ian Mkandawire urged government to put in place stiff laws that would ban the exportation of unprocessed minerals outside Zambia by mine investors.
In an interview yesterday, Mkandawire said the government should make sure that the investors create enough jobs for Zambians by ensuring that the processing of the minerals was done within Zambia before being exported.
And Mkandawire said that the attitude of foreign investors towards Zambian workers was still bad.
He observed that there were a lot of disparities in salaries and wages between local and expatriate workers in many mining companies.
“We want to see equal pay for equal work. We want to have professional expatriate workers. We do not want expatriate to have security guards here. No,” Mkandawire said.
Labels: DAN MUSENGE, ENERGY, ZFE
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