Unions demand workers’ rights
Correspondent | Monday May 8, 2023 06:00
The mood of the first Labour Day commemorations since COVID-19 was charged. Ironically, the event was held in the mining town whose life blood was drained by the closure of the BCL mine. Workers around the country are feeling a similar pinch.
The COVID-19 followed by the Russia-Ukraine war have led to runaway inflation as well as food and fuel shortages eroding progress made by workers and human rights, reducing the value of wages and escalating poverty and inequality.
The purpose of the annual event is to, among others, share experiences, evaluate challenges, review relations with employers, re-energise against socio-economic and political challenges as well as renew hope and explore ways to move forward especially with the 2024 General Election approaching.
The theme, ‘Demanding Workers Rights and Power’ was reflective of the mood.
“We are not asking. We are demanding our rights and economic emancipation as much progress has not been achieved since the COVID-19 crisis,” stated the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) president, Martha Molema. The event is a collaboration between the union umbrella body and its counterpart, the Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU).
Molema went on: “For this reason, we, as the labour movement, should rekindle our patriotic spirit of fighting and protecting our rights and the rights of the vulnerable. The theme of this year’s May Day commemoration allows us to emphasise these challenges and the BFTU’s message today is a chronicle of social dialogue initiatives that have failed because the government does not come to the party on initiatives that would have benefited the workers.”
Molema lambasted African leaders, including Botswana, for committing to international conventions and forums just to be politically correct and then fail to implement them.
“As Batswana, we face many challenges related to employment, escalating youth unemployment, increasing social ills, growing inequality, violation of workers’ rights, gender disparities, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) deficits and increasing mental ill-health,” she added.
The BOFEPUSU president Johannes Tshukudu did not mince his words either.
“We, the workers of Botswana are not happy because generally our welfare and conditions of service leave much to be desired under this political regime. This is so because there are no objective social dialogue structures to facilitate balanced labour relations. Both the government and other employers do as they please,” he said.
At independence, Batswana collectively joined hands to develop the country from scratch with pride with no monetary payments because the country could not afford salaries. The situation according to Comrade Tshukudu was never attended to even when the economy was booming during the 1980’s.
“We, the current workers, have inherited these slavery salaries and even now the BDP regime does not see the need to improve the situation even though inflation is high,” he further said.
The Institute for Labour and Employment Studies (ILES) in its solidarity message stated: “This year’s May Day theme captures the change in the historical struggles and achievements of workers.
Today as we celebrate May Day, we note that trade unions demand not only workers’ rights but also economic power.” The ILES urged the government to recognise the critical role played by trade unions and to collaborate with unions to develop comprehensive and inclusive social protection programmes for citizens.
The Executive Secretary of Southern Africa Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC), Mavis Koogotsitse also delivered a solidarity message. She said: “We need to start acting as trade unions and as workers to ensure that we achieve the right to unionise, right to strike, right to housing and right to citizenship. These socio-economic rights provide protection for the dignity, freedom and well-being of individuals by guaranteeing state-supported entitlements to housing, a living wage, decent working conditions and other social goods.”
Furthermore, she stated that there is need to strengthen the trade unions in respective countries and in Africa by moving towards unity and collaborating within the labour movement to reach common positions, extending unionisation to groups in vulnerable situations, and addressing strategic objectives such as the creation of decent employment, decent work deficits, low wages, the impact of climate change and gaps in social protection.
Justice Professor Key Dingake also had a message for the day. He said research had revealed that there is a correlation between democratic deficit and economic disempowerment and that in countries where workers rights are absent, limited or denied, the more the state of economic disempowerment.
“Over the last few years, the cost of living has risen, wages have stagnated against soaring inflation amidst rising rates of unemployment, especially among the young people. The triple burden of poverty, inequality and unemployment needs to be confronted head on and defeated.
“We need to prioritise and double efforts to subsidise the productive capacity of the nation, especially in food production. We have the resources. All we need is political will.
“The problem, as it is often said, is that those who have power do not have hunger and those who have hunger do not have power. Workers need to acquire power to effect change that is consistent with their aspirations,” Justice Dingake stated in his message.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Annah Mokgethi said in her interactions with trade unionists, she observed shortcomings including non-compliance with their own constitutions, failure to keep proper records and hold annual conferences as well as financial statements prepared by unqualified individuals, executive committees that overstay their mandates, the reluctance to recognise trade unions by some employers and internal disputes.
Mokgethi urged the unions to regularise to avoid compromise of trust and deregistration. She further said the challenges require concerted effort to come up with sustainable solutions for the good of the workers.
The minister, however, acknowledged achievements attained by the unions such as the various investment schemes, international cooperation activities, funeral benefits, training and job creation among others. “It is my sincere belief that trade unions can still do more in this country,” she stated.