Go deeper into politics, UB don urges BOFEPUSU
Boniface Keakabetse | Thursday May 4, 2017 16:02
The federation has come under fire in previous years for openly aligning with certain political parties and formations, a situation complicated by the fact that civil servants are expressly barred from openly displaying or promoting their political affiliation. BOFEPUSU took a decision to support the opposition in the last general elections.
Officiating at the Labour Day celebrations here on Monday, Molefe said the question was not about whether unions should enter politics, but about how they should do so.
“It is a question of how not if trade unions should take part in politics,” he said.
“I am the one who advised BOFEPUSU to support the opposition in the run up to the 2014 elections.
“There is nothing wrong in engaging with politicians and do not be afraid to support those who support you.”
Molefe said in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was in a tripartite political arrangement with the African National Congress and South African Communist Party.
“In the United Kingdom, the Labour Party grew out of the trade union movement and socialist parties in the 19th century. Politics is the national cake and as unions, we have to be closer to national cake,” he said.
The academic slammed what he called “a decline in the rule of law in Botswana” saying Government was unilaterally adjusting civil servants’ wages contrary to the existing labour laws. He said in 2008, Parliament passed the new Public Service Act, which among others provided for the establishment of the Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC), which he said Government was now sidestepping through unilateral adjustments.
Shrouded in Court cases, the latest round of PSBC talks broke down recently after government claimed BOFEPUSU had failed to submit audited figures of its membership, in line with the PSBC’s constitution. On Labour Day, BOFEPUSU announced it was pulling out of the PSBC citing frustration with Government and the outcome of a pending Court case.
“Government continues to violate the Public Service Act through unilateral wage increases,” Molefe said.
“The collective bargaining violations are comparable to the general fall in quality of democracy in Botswana.
“Democracy does not just mean holding an election. It refers to the quality of the participation. We have to democratise every space starting at family level for us to say there is quality democracy in Botswana.”
Elaborating on the decision to leave the PSBC, BOFEPUSU spokesperson, Mogomotsi Motshegwa said the exit would give the Federation time to change strategy due to the “continued disregard of the bargaining process by the Government”.
“We have so far spent millions through Court cases to save the bargaining process to no avail. In fact, we have so far spent P2.2 million in an effort to support the bargaining process through court cases,” he said.
Motshegwa explained that BOFEPUSU will meet on May 6 to discuss the issue of temporarily exiting the PSBC.