Botswana Media Workers Union must rise to the occasion

Correspondent | Tuesday September 13, 2016 15:51

 

Allow me to pay homage to BOMAWU and to welcome my fellow comrades from the media fraternal in trade unionism. The media play a significant role in nation building, in politics and in economic development as well as in workplace cultural diversity. The macro and micro environmental influences on labour relations will be endless without the mentioning the media and in particular its significant impact on labour relations as it is evident in South Africa and developed countries and as it was evident during the 2011 National strike in Botswana.

 

BOMAWU the voice of reason

To date, many union leaders within both the public sector and the private sector have lost direction, strategic focus and above all, have divorced their mandate of being the voice of the voiceless and the society. I assume and expect that, the new united labour front, Botswana BOMAWU will take its rightful position of being the voice of reason.

 It is a well-known fact that, mass communications are business enterprises and owners automatically identify with other employers whenever the interests of labour, management and state collide.

This is why some newspapers have the tendency of portraying labour movements particularly Public Sector Unions (PSU) in an extremely negative light and there is poor coverage labour issues in the national television and in some newspapers which are for sale, in contrast with the considerable coverage of union business, commercial sex and political campaigns.

I am of the view that, the significant role and actions of trade unions by the medial house is presented as less legitimate when compared with those of the state and other employers because the coverage in many instances focuses on disputes aspects of trade unionism, militancy of unions towards employers, while employers are described as sweetheart and conservative.

It is hope that, the formation of BOMAWU will address this perception and guard against abuse of office by the owners of the enterprises (mass communication or media) and sexual harassment of staff reporters/journalists by their supervisors.

 

Core mandate of a union

Union leaders no longer care about the wellbeing and welfare of the working class and are paying more attention on businesses and funeral schemes.

The media prefer making a coverage of businesses because it is alleged that they get bribe and their newspapers are for sale, this is why some staff reporters and journalist were alleged to have campaigned for certain union leaders during elections.

Employers within the media fraternal and labour (workers) must start to explore their common interests in reconstructing and restructuring their new marriage of convenience, new working relationship in order to ensure sustains in the relationship and survival of their organisation in a globally competitive world.

Media workers must have access to information concerning their organisations’ operations including profit made by companies owned. Workers play a pivotal role in companies’ economic growth and reconstructions and as such, they must have a stake in the economy growth, workers are the creators of the economy including in the mass media.

 

Decent work

The Secretary General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has once said these words at the 89 session of ILO, Geneva June 2001: Reducing the decent work deficit-a global challenge.

 “Every day, we are reminded that for everybody, work is a defining feature of human existence. It is the means of sustaining life and of meeting the basic needs. Nevertheless, it is also the activity through which, individuals affirm their own identity, both to themselves and to those around them.

It is crucial to individual choice, to the welfare of families and to the stability of societies.

The goal of ‘decent work’ is best expressed through the eyes of people, it is about your job and future prospects, about your working conditions, about balancing work and family life, putting your kids through school or getting them out of child labour. It is about gender equality, equal recognition, and enabling women to make choices and to take control of their lives’’.

The illustration and extract of the  informative speech of the Secretary General of ILO gives a clear overview of why workers join unions.

Most workers join trade unions because of various reasons, amongst them; economic needs (improve wages and working conditions), social needs (comradeship and recognition) and as a means of protecting their job (job security).

My expectation and in particular that  of media workers who will  others who will opt to join BOMAWU that, the union will facilitate a shift from the way the media has been handling issues labour and how workers within the media in Botswana were being treated for decades by their employers.

Its leadership has to build a strong and harmonious working relationship between itself, with various employers within the industry and collaborate with other sister unions within both the private and public sector whose ideology may be similar to that of it to acquire organisational rights through collective agreements and enjoy the fruits of Joint Industrial Relations Council.

The union and employers must agree and make provisions for negotiating procedures to be followed when issues such as salaries, benefits and other conditions of service are to be bargained collectively, in the absence of bargaining council

 

*PS: These are personal views and comments of the author and are not of any Union, Federation or Institution with which he may be a member with good standing. Patle is a reformist unionist based in Gaborone City. E-mail opatle@gov.bw or WhatsApp@73895263. 

Oaitse Patle