BOFEPUSU captain to resuscitate bargaining councils
Larona Makhaiza | Tuesday September 26, 2023 10:25
Additionally, they are keen to establish an 'Industrial Bargaining Council' catering to the private sector. The newly appointed leadership, under the guidance of Gotlamang Oitsile as president, conducted an inaugural media briefing at Bluetree. During the briefing, they discussed pressing matters and outlined their upcoming initiatives.
Oitsile articulated their primary objective as the newly elected committee, which is to rejuvenate the union and restore it to its former prominence. “Our wish as the newly elected leadership of BOFEPUSU is to unite all the workers across the country as this is one of the challenges we have realised and this has affected the public bargaining council in the past,” Oitsile said. Regarding the bargaining council's recent ineffectiveness, he indicated that it had gone under lately.
“We have an issue of bargaining council on our hands where in the past years it has been a talk between an employee and employer without deciding because we did not have an input,” he expressed. Now at the helm of BOFEPUSU, Oitsile emphasised that workers should not have to wait long for the bargaining council to become operational. “As the newly elected leadership we have set ourselves a target that in three months, the bargaining council should be up and running,” he said.
Furthermore, Oitsile explained that the establishment of a Bargaining Council would be a significant achievement for both workers and employers, providing the right platform for addressing mutual concerns.
Expanding on the issue of bargaining councils, Oitsile emphasised that the private sector should not be overlooked, as it faces its own set of challenges. He highlighted the urgent need for an industrial bargaining council specifically catering to the private sector, where workers often experience exploitation.
“Industrial councils in the private sector need to be paid attention to also, establish them when they are not there and those already exist be functional because private sectors also have a lot of issues,” the president said.
When asked about the timeline for implementing the industrial bargaining council, the new leadership of BOFEPUSU shared it is determined to revitalise the union, prioritise the restoration of the public bargaining council, and advocate for the establishment of an industrial bargaining council to address the concerns of private sector workers.
“This one is going to be challenging I do not see it taking three months long like the public bargaining council, but I see it taking a year-long latest. We promise to make it work,” he said.