Lusaka Province Minister Lameck Mangani has described the situation at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and some health centres in the country as worrisome. He said there is urgent need for health workers to return to work in order to save lives.

Mr Mangani said that remarkable progress has been made and consensus has been reached on a number of issues in the ongoing negotiations for improved conditions of service for public service workers.

Mr. Mangani has since pleaded with striking health workers and teachers to give dialogue a chance.

Mr. Mangani warned that the strike action by some health workers and teachers should not be politicized.

He urged politicians to desist from politicizing the strike action by public workers as their grievances are receiving adequate attention from government.

And in Solwezi, all striking civil servants this morning converged in the Boma Conference Hall to be addressed by their union leaders on the current salary negotiations with government.

The workers comprising of nurses, teahers and other public service workers, some carrying placards reading ”no salary increment no work” rejected the proposed 15 percent salary increment, saying it was a mockery.

Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia Regional Secretary, Kennedy Musopelo told the irate civil servants that the union leaders in Lusaka are still negotiating with govrenment.

Mr. Musopelo said the civil servants in North-Western Province have vowed not to go for work until government listens to their plight and gives them a block figure increment.

The workers agreed that their unions should not sign 15 percent increment, adding that there is no house in Solwezi that is rented at K200,000.

The strike action by civil servants in the Province has spread to Mufumbwe Disrict where all operations at some government institutions have come to a halt.

Mufumbwe District Commissioner, Robert Muyutu confirmed to ZANIS in Solwezi that the strike action by the workers has caused hardships, especially at Mufumbwe Hospital where the admission of patients has been suspended.

Mr. Muyutu described the situation as serious.

In Chipata Unionized teachers  have gone on strike to press for the conclusion of the negotiations between their Union representatives and government for better pay and conditions of service.

The call for the strike action was agreed upon during a meeting held at Chipata Day Secondary School today.

All the Unionized teachers from Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZANUT), Basic Teachers Union of Zambia ( BETUZ) and Secondary School Teacher Union of Zambia (SESTUZ) have vowed not to go back to work until their demands are met.

The teachers expressed disappointment over government’s failure to conclude the negotiations on time, adding that they would not succumb to any intimidation from their superiors as they have waited for too long for the salary negotiations and conditions of service.

Describing themselves as the engine that drives the country’s development, they expressed sadiness that they are not being motivated.

He said the prolonged delay by government in concluding the salary negotiations and improved conditions of service will only slow down the pace of development in the country.

The teachers said time for conflicting statements over collective bargains is over.

The teachers also called on their union leaders to coordinate if their lobbying is to yield good results.

Civil Servants Union of Zambia (CSUZ) Chairperson Siyabbwete Mudenda assured the three teachers Unions that his union was behind their call for a strike action.

He blamed the union leaders at national level who have failed to make follow-ups on housing allowance which courts of law ruled that civil servants be entitled to K450,000 housing allowance as per 2003 collective agreement.

In Serenje, Civil Servants in Serenje have rejected the 15 percent salary increment offered by government and gone on strike, demanding for a higher percentage.

A Check by ZANIS at Serenje district hospital this morning found only one nurse, a sister in charge, two senior clinical officers working.

One senior clinical officer who refused to be named said there is pressure of work, following the withdrawal of labour by nurses and other medical staff.

And the Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union (CSAWUZ) Serenje Branch, resolved to join the strike at a general meeting held yesterday.

Branch Chairperson, Charity Mumba said the members resolved to reject the 15 percent salary increment offered by government, saying it is too low.

Mrs. Mumba said the members also demanded a K500,000 housing allowance for a lowest paid worker and K100,000 missing lunch allowance.

She said the workers don’t want their representatives in the negotiations to sign for a 15 percent increment and also ensure they fight for better conditions of service.

ZANIS

political party leaders in the country have politicized the current teachers and nurses’ industrial unrest.

He condemned political leaders that were accusing President Rupiah Banda of neglecting the demands of striking workers by going abroad to attend the economic forum and other meetings to which heads of state were invited.

“What should be made clear is that when the heads of government meet at various summits, they do so to discuss matters of common interest, to find solutions to various challenges, economic or social. What they resolve to do has a bearing in the management of economic and social problems at home,” he explained.

Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha, who is also Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, further explained that the summits which President Banda has been attending have had Zambia’s interests solved.

He said even when the President was abroad, he was still connected to what was happening at home and was able to direct what should be done to such challenges.

The minister added that the President has ministers who were directly dealing with the issues of industrial unrest in their various ministries.

“The President works through his ministers and he can therefore direct appropriate action through them from any part of the world,” he said, adding that “It is therefore irresponsible to suggest that industrial disputes can only be solved with the intervention and presence of a head of government”.

Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha said the President only participates in a declared dispute requiring his intervention if negotiations for conditions of service and salaries between government and unions have failed.

The Chief Government spokesperson said it was irresponsible and unacceptable for political party leaders, who aspire to lead the country in future, to fan industrial unrests instead of helping government solve them.

Lieutenant General Shikapwasha said in a statement to ZANIS, in Lusaka today that political leaders that were encouraging nurses and teachers to go on strike were in fact undermining government.

“While government appreciates that political parties may have their own ideas about how they would like to deal with the grievances and wish they were in office to attend to them, it is totally unacceptable for such leaders to undermine government by fanning these disputes in order to gain political mileage,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha said government was very concerned about the ongoing strike by teachers and nurses and was therefore working hard to solve the industrial unrest amicably.

ZANIS

MMD National Secretary, Katele Kalumba, says he is convinced President Rupiah Banda will defeat all presidential candidates in the 2011 elections.

Dr. Kalumba says he is happy that the general membership of the MMD appear to have reached a consensus on its preferred candidate for the presidential elections.

He also says the state of affairs will make it easy for him to convene the MMD national convention.

Dr. Kalumba told ZNBC news that the task of convening the convention will be easy because the MMD membership is generally agreed to support one candidate.

And Dr. Kalumba has dismissed MMD Spokesperson, Ben Tetamashimba’s remarks that he was interested in contesting the Presidential elections on the MMD ticket.

Mr. Tetamashimba recently challenged Dr. Kalumba to openly declare his Presidential ambitions.

[ZNBC]

United Party for National Development Leader, Hakainde Hichilema, has disclosed that other opposition political parties have expressed interest to join the political pact recent entered into by the Patriotic Front (PF) and UPND.

Mr. Hichilema further said in an interview that even members of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) have covertly supported the pact.

He said other political parties have shown willingness to join the political pact but are not yet ready to openly declare their wiliness to join the pact.

Mr. Hichilema said the church, civil society and trade unions are also in full support of the pact as it aimed at bettering the plight of all Zambians.

He appealed to stakeholders who have the interest of the nation at heart to rally behind the pact as it is aimed at providing a better alternative to the MMD government.[quote]

Mr. Hichilema said contrary to the prophets of doom, PF and UPND are determined to ensure that the pact succeeds.

He said lessons have been learned from previous experiences hence the pact with PF and UPND is well-informed about why previous arrangements failed.

Mr. Hichilema called for unity of purpose among opposition political parties in a bid to unseat the MMD.

And Patriotic Front President, Michael Sata, says the PF-UPND electoral pact will succeed because it is different from the previous alliance.

Mr. Sata says the two parties have thoroughly discussed a number of issues that aims to consolidate the pact ahead of the 2011 general elections.

He told ZNBC news that those criticising or condemning the pact will be proven wrong.

The PF leader said he is particularly happy that the two parties have remained consistent from the time the electoral pact was signed.

The UPND and the PF announced last week that they have formed an alliance which will enable them contest the 2011 general elections as a single political force.

The electoral pact has been received with mixed reactions.

Some people say the alliance is just a marriage of convenience, which is likely to collapse.

Others have welcomed the pact saying it will help to strengthen democracy in the country.

[ZNBC]