Workers get raw deal – Report
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday March 27, 2023 06:00
Furthermore, the government has not effectively enforced its labour laws, particularly in remote areas, and compulsory and forced labour occurred in several sectors, the report further states. This is according to Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2022 by the United States Department of State. The report also says the country’s law imposes restrictions limiting workers’ right to form and join independent trade unions, and the law gives the Registrar authority to refuse registration upon determining that an existing trade union is sufficiently representative of employee interests. Furthermore, the law allows the registrar or Attorney General to apply for an order to restrain any unauthorised or unlawful expenditure of funds or use of any trade union property. “Because the law does not protect members of unregistered trade unions, those trying to establish, join, or register a trade union have no legal protection from anti union discrimination. Unions failing to meet formal registration requirements are automatically dissolved and banned from carrying out union activities. The government also imposes legal restrictions on collective bargaining and the right to strike. The law provides for collective bargaining only for unions that have enrolled at least one-third of an employer or industry’s workforce,” the report states. Although the law provides for the rights of workers to join registered unions and to bargain collectively, police, military and prison personnel are not allowed to form or join unions. Unions’ representatives reported that employee associations were generally not as effective as unions in resolving labour disputes, the report says.
In the public sector, the government has not acted to revive the Public Sector Bargaining Council. The law prohibits employees who provide “essential services” from striking, limiting its definition of essential services to aviation, health, electrical, water and sanitation, fire, and air traffic control services. On other matters, the report says the government has not effectively enforced its labour laws, particularly in remote areas, and compulsory and forced labour occurred in several sectors. “Members of the San community, including children, were sometimes subjected to forced labour conditions on farms and ranches in the Ghanzi District. There were no prosecutions for forced labour during the year, and the law prescribed penalties that were not commensurate with comparable serious crimes,” states the report.
Botswana’s labour laws prohibit discrimination based on race, colour, tribe, place of origin, including national origin, social origin, sex, disability, language, sexual orientation or gender identity, HIV status, marital status, religion, creed, or social status. However, the report states that the government’s penalties for discrimination were less than penalties related to other civil rights. “Women earned 32% less than men employed in equal work, according to the World Economic Forum.” Regarding acceptable conditions of work, the law provides for minimum hourly wages for full-time work by sector, with these minimum wages set by the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs. Despite the revision of the minimum wage in January increasing it slightly from P6.70 ($0.52) per hour to P7.22 ($0.56) per hour, some workers were required to perform overtime duties without compensation. In addition, occupational safety and health (OSH) requirements were limited, and the government’s ability to enforce OSH legislation remained limited due to inadequate staffing and lack of clear ministerial jurisdictions. Foreign migrant workers were found to be vulnerable to exploitative working conditions, such as working excessive hours or having their wages withheld, mainly in domestic labour.