The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has asked the New Dawn Government to protect the existing jobs in the country and create more employment in the formal sector.
Speaking during the end of year media briefing in Kitwe, ZCTU President Nkole Chishimba said the state should formulate and promote fiscal policies which will safeguard employment and promote workers rights.
Mr. Chishimba commented on the political situation, the Covid-19 pandemic, the current economic situation, the IMF deal, challenges in the energy sector and the decentralization policy.
The ZCTU boss further highlighted the fight against corruption, amendment of the Industrial and Labour Relations Act, Productivity, Social Dialogue and workers rights.
On job creation, Mr. Chishimba said it is important for the government to create an enabling environment for social dialogue in which workers, employers and the Government can share their experience.
“I wish to urge the Government to protect the existing jobs and create new employment in the formal economy, while ensuring that any policy development does not negatively impact workers rights and decent work,” he said.
“Further, I wish to encourage the Government to formulate and promote fiscal policies which will safeguard employment, promote rights at work and guarantee social protection for all workers. With particular attention to vulnerable groups that are disproportionately impacted by the negative economic effects,” Mr. Chishimba said.
“It is important for the government to create an enabling environment for social dialogue in which workers, employers and the Government can share their experience and freely share their experiences and feely express their needs and impacts of the economy,” he said.
Mr. Chishimba further called for the amendment of the current Industrial and Labour Act as he branded it archaic.
He charged that some people in the previous PF government violated and abused the Industrial and Labour Relations Act by denying workers salary increases and improved conditions of work.
Mr. Chishimba said the Industrial and Labour Relations Act is meant to protect workers but was used to weaken unions by antagonizing union members and sponsoring the formation of splinter unions.
“There is no dispute that some clauses in our current Industrial and Labour Act are archaic and need to be amended to deal with emerging challenges on the labour market. This law provides for the rights of workers at the workplace.”
“However, we note that some people in the previous government violated the Industrial and Labour Relations Act and abused workers by denying them salary increases and improved conditions of work. While this law is supposed to protect workers, some people saw it fit to weaken unions by antagonizing union members and sponsoring the formation of splinter unions,” Mr. Chishimba said.
“We are appealing to the new Government to urgently initiate the process of amending this act so that the rights of workers can be restored, because it is good for the workers, productivity and national development.”
Mr. Chishimba added:”I wish to mention that the work of the trade union movement in Zambia is challenging in view of a number of social-economic challenges facing workers.”
He also hailed the new Government for awarding public service workers a 12% salary increment.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Government for the 12% public service wage award to public unions. This comes together with the budgetary commitment to recruit about 40, 000 public service workers in 2022. We commend the Government for these commitments especially considering the current economic challenges in Zambia. We urge the government to continue on this trajectory and ensure that the subsequent national budgets in the medium term take into account recruitments and pay awards for workers in order to raise motivation,” Mr. Chishimba concluded.
Mr Chishimba the formation of splinter unions was the brainchild of the MMD and FTJ. There’s been no new splinter unions formed in recent times. I saw on Radio Icengelo you calling the PF goverment brutal. It would have carried some weight if you had told Edgar Lungu while you dined with him. On corruption fight, is using your position to get contracts with the mines for your company not corruption? There’s so much to say but this is all for the meantime.
Indeed, this should be done asap. I travelled home for the holidays and the guy I was sat with in the same aisle needed help with filling in the COVID19 form required for entering Zambia. The guy is illiterate and has a working permit for working in Zambia as a welder!?! Serious revisions should be done so that work permits are issued only to foreigners who have scarce skills that Zambia may be lacking. When they have trained a Zambian, we thank them and pay them their dues.
#2 Awe Sure… government policy on labor is like you have alluded to… rare skills. Problem is at the bottom… companies use bribes to bring in their own people using Zambians to carry out this corruption. It’s like stealing is crime but people still go ahead to steal. If we at the bottom stand our ground then unqualified foreigners will not take our jobs. Even the controlling bodies like the EIZ are biased towards foreigners when it comes to statutory appointments.
ZCTU and FFTU have outlived their usefulness. It’s better not to have a labour movement than to put hope in useless Unions. Leadership is about greater sacrifice but that’s not present in the current crop. Most of these chaps become suppliers and contractors to employer institutions the very moment they’re elected. Isn’t that a conflict of interest? You can’t continue to blame FTJ who left office over 20yrs ago for the Unions’ beleaguered situation. These aren’t leaders but selfish individuals. MUZ the oldest Union is dead
#3 Deja Vu
January 1, 2022 At 10:27 am
“#2 Awe Sure… government policy on labor is like you have alluded to… rare skills. Problem is at the bottom… companies use bribes to bring in their own people using…”
The problem was thst lungu and his corrupt GRZ………..
10 years and billions of dollars later……..
And still you need Chinese to build a car park like at ZNBC…………
Atleast the new GRZ is already looking at fixing this with the new funds for youth skills enhancements………..
#5Spaka… Edgar Lungu may be everything bad, but this corrupt habit of allowing ill qualified foreigners has been there long before Edgar was in the picture. Please don’t heap every rubbish on Lungu. Even Milupi preferred whites at CEC to Zambians. I’m speaking as a witness to these things.
#6 Deja Vu
January 1, 2022 At 12:45 pm
“#5Spaka… Edgar Lungu may be everything bad, but this corrupt habit of allowing ill qualified foreigners has been there long before Edgar was in the picture. Please don’t heap every rubbish on Lungu. Even Milupi preferred whites at CEC to Zambians. I’m speaking as a witness to these things…”
I know these things……….
As I said , 10 years later and billions spent of dollars and you can’t build a quality car park ????
No other GRZ has had such funds at their disposal like lungu and PF…….
So , who do you want to blame ?? RB , PLM or FJT ????
After 10 years and the billions spent, Zambians should be qualified to be empowered to do most work in zambia…..
#7 You are lost. We’re discussing recruitment of foreigners but there you go wild on unrelated issues.
ZCTU is a toothless organization…I mean where was this president when his members in endorsing politicians last year or when unions were standing with that crook the KCM Liquidator
Unions are like those Zambian Pakistani and Indian business men in public they claim to be non partisan but behind the scenes they are the main sponsors of the Party of the Day in return for drugs and construction contracts.
Deja Vu – Happy New Year to you…now can you or loyal drumbeaters for Independent Observer unblock my main IP address so I don’t have to switch to VPN every time I want to post as it disrupts other sensitive pages when I am multi-tasking.
#11 Tarino Orange Same to you. But sorry I have nothing to do with your problems viz a viz LT
#8 Deja Vu
January 1, 2022 At 1:20 pm
“#7 You are lost. We’re discussing recruitment of foreigners but there you go wild on unrelated issues.”
Typical of PF………
you can’t make the connection between the many foreigners working in zambia and the lack of skills enhancement on Zambians despite spending billions and 10 years in office……….
You PF are very du.ll, …………
That’s why the state of the economy is as you left it…………a shambolic mess.
Can you trust this president and his team, you are joking immediately he moved into power they stopped Indeni and took away the livelihood of the those employees.
These people have no heart for Zambians, if they had they wouldn’t have sold Zambia to IMF.
Now the president of Zambia is IMF and not HH he is just their representative, to see that they get every job out from Zambia including those mineral resources.
Already Zambia has lost out on the lucrative copper prices all given out to foreigners like Vandatta, who is creeping in silently.
#13 Spaka… I am not PF. I’m a Zambian. ZAMBIA has got a lot of qualified manpower enough to even send some of them like you MUCIBALO AND WENELA
#15 Deja Vu
January 1, 2022 At 7:21 pm
“#13 Spaka… I am not PF. I’m a Zambian. ZAMBIA has got a lot of qualified manpower enough to even send some of them like you MUCIBALO AND WENELA..”
Seeing you can’t even be trusted to build a car park………
Looks to me that most you, like your self are half baked specialists at nothing ………..
You need upskilling. Not just sontaring while you can’tbe trusted to build jack sh.it