BNF To Intervene In BOFEPUSU, BOPEU Wars
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday July 24, 2017 18:00
It is public knowledge now that both the Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sectors Trade Unions (BOFEPUSU) and the Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) have been at each other’s throat for a long time.
The resolution taken at the conference says BNF is a mass movement and takes labour issues very seriously and wants to see a united workforce.
Prior to the resolution BNF president, Duma Boko advised the party to look into BOFEPUSU and BOPEU wars.
“The BNF must raise alarm and be at the frontlines of leading a militant defence of the rights of the labour movement and the workers of Botswana. We need to hear meaningful input from our regions on these and other matters.
“Our Secretary for Labour must have these issues at his fingertips to engage with the members here and at other fora so our policy position and principles on these issues are refined and sharpened to assist the trade union movement,” Boko said.
He continued: “It has resulted in the animosities and resentments that dominate the trade union space spilling over and finding root in the UDC. The BNF has not been spared. Our members have aligned themselves along these fault lines and are blinded to basic principles of informed engagement. They would rather the party not only took sides, but also publicly demonised those with whom they may not agree.”
He urged the conference to deal with this particular issue if only to open a much needed debate on the nature of the labour movement and the challenges facing it.
The BNF president said then they would be better placed to address these challenges from an informed and well thought out position. “This illustration applies with equal force to all the office bearers within the BNF Central Committee,” he said.
The conference also made a resolution that the BNF publicity office should formulate a social media policy and those using unpalatable languages will be subjected to disciplinary action.
This came after the party got disturbed by recent exchange of words by some party members on Facebook and secret groups of some party members trying to discredit the party president and some members of the central committee.