Thursday, March 28, 2024

Change attitude towards work- Shamenda tells workers

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Labour Minister Fackson Shamenda
Labour Minister Fackson Shamenda

Labour and Social Security Minister Fackson Shamenda has implored workers in the country to change their attitude towards work if their demands for improved conditions of service are to be justified.

Speaking in Lusaka today when he officiated at a stakeholders consultative workshop on the productivity year book, Mr. Shamenda expressed concern over the workers%u2019 attitude towards work.

Mr. Shamenda who was made to wait for the participants of the workshop who had come late for close to forty minutes says there is need for workers to change their culture of reporting for work and functions late.

Mr.Shamenda says there is also need for trade unions to join forces in educating their members on the importance of productivity.

He adds that with higher productivity levels, the unions will negotiate for improved conditions of service from a stronger position as the profitability of a company would have gone up.

The Labour Minister states that it is high time employers and employees begin linking the demands for higher wages to higher productivity because this is the reason why performance appraisals are important and must be taken seriously.

And Mr Shamenda says government remains committed to reviewing the labour laws which will among other things address casualization of labour, unjustified and un explained termination of contracts.

Mr. Shamenda however says even as government seeks to protect workers against unfair termination of contracts or dismissals, his ministry will not support workers who are dismissed because of poor culture, cheating or fraud.

9 COMMENTS

  1. Ba Honourable please start with civil servants such as RATSA station managers who are abusing their offices by letting clients wait long hours just for a car inspection. Generally govt officers are abusing their positions terribly, for sure these are bad habits inherited from MMD. Ministry of lands, ZRA, hospitals just to get a normal checkup takes so long. Apart from fighting corruption we need EFFICIENCY in govt offices please because what is happening right now is really nothing short of frustrating the govt under the guise of fighting corruption, how is it fighting corruption when millions of donor funds meant to be spent for example on irrigation for small scale farmers remains idle for 2 years??? A lack of efficiency in these MMD minded/spoilt civil servants is the cause.

  2. this is a wrong chap to talk about productivity. shamenda is a corrupt chap. he thinks every one has to worship him. ACC, where are you? this chap should be behind bars. as if that is not enough, these chaps have squandered and plundered monies for programmes.

    • amocha…..

      Sorry to address you personally, but I must, because you are a rotten nut that must be spat out of the mouth.

      You must either be a misguided kaponya having a job you never deserved and are not qualified for because of your support for the ruling party (it could have been any political party – PF, UNIP, MMD or UPND). You could also be an undisciplined civil servant who survives on politicising or tribalising issues when disciplinary action is about to be taken against you!! Look, this country’s population is growing and all these people need good jobs, good health care, good education, good policing etc. These good things constitute what is called development and good living standards as they have in Australia, New Zealand, Denmark. Your way leads to more poverty, death…

  3. Too little, too late. Lazy, inefficient & mostly carefree attitude makes the zambian worker very expensive. This mindset came in with ‘Don’t Kubeba’, no one seriously cares. You want anything done, you have to part with something, slowly it’s rotting, the termites eating away. Serious problems mounting!

  4. This is the most important topic that the Minister has touched on – PRODUCTIVITY. We may want to call Hon. Shamenda all sorts of names but he is right on this one. The only problem is that he has diluted his call for productivity-linked wages by threatening employers who punish problematic workers!! It is very unfortunate that the PF govt chose political patronage for fear of losing political support during the many by-elections it created. Some of us looked forward to the Michael Sata we knew who did not have room for lazy/tricky employees. Actually workers’s attitude towards work changed for the better immediately after Mr Sata became President. On this aspect alone Mr Sata would have positively transformed this economy. The sacking of nurses was of course wrong.

  5. On Hon Shamenda being called names for stating facts, should we disagree with a mad man were they to state that there are 24 hours in a full day Or that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West? Should we disagree just because the person stating the fact is mad?
    In any case Hon Shamenda is no more corrupt than those who oppose his call for honesty and hard work among Zambians. This “permanent pensionable” clause should go. Let people be on contract and paid hourly in a well supervised atmosphere and you will see Zambia take a jump in economic growth. I would have loved the Minister if he had spoken about what his Ministry was doing about cross-sector hourly wage rates. Whether you like it or not, that is how the developed world has continued to progress.

  6. How I pray that Mr Sata could not ONLY regain his health BUT ALSO be what he was when he was a Minister!! I would support PF to the hilt, probably even join the party to go in and render whatever technical support. If the thugs who attacked BGOCCA, UPND, NAREP president etc had directed that energy against people working to weaken our economy such as party leaders supporting undisciplined workers etc, we could have “counted benefits and losses” and not what happened. The worst enemy of Zambia is not genuine vibrant opposition political parties but workers who get money that is more than the work they have put in. Those are real robbers, worse than corrupt individuals = though they all deserve severe punishment, if ACC were to do their work.

  7. Talking about equating payments to productivity, why are we building costly mansions for “retired” Presidents (they do not even retire as is the case with KK) and still pay them 80% of the incumbent’s salary and facilities?? Just why is Zambia doing these strange things? Whatever rationale was used to “secretly” arrive at this decision and sneak it into the system must have been the strangest & most selfish. Could you justify the fact that RB who was President for only 3 years will continue to get 80% of the serving President’s salary plus govt staff for the rest of his life!! And RB had held high paying jobs all his life and built his own mansions!! But look at retired top civil servants!! Now that FTJ and LPM are no more, who are we building the houses for?? Is this tax…

  8. Why Not start with Zesco Honourable…. Zesco has a high number of casual workers who work long hours but get less salaries
    concern citizen..

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