TAWU ready for fresh salary talks

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Friday August 12, 2011 00:00

 

TAWU president Allan Keitseng wrote to the director of DPSM, Festina Bakwena in May requesting information on human resource, salaries and the country's economic performance.

Keitseng said the request followed the rules of engagement his union agreed to with the DPSM and the Botswana Government Workers Union (BGWU) especially article 15, which calls for full information disclosure.  'The article demands that there be disclosure of information required for the purpose of collective bargaining which shall be governed by the provisions of Section 48 of the Trade Unions and Employers Organisation Act,' Keitseng said. 

He said they are analysing the data and then propose to the employer that they begin talks within 14 days. Based on whether the DPSM accepts their proposal, Keitseng added that negotiations should not extend to October. In their proposal submitted to the Bakwena two months ago, the union wanted to know the total number of employees, including vacant posts, engaged directly or indirectly by the DPSM. They also demanded a break-down of the employment data.

'We also wanted the current status of government revenues as of April and a detailed statues of government account,' he said.

Keitseng said having this information would be very useful, as they will negotiate from an informed point of view unlike in a situation where the DPSM was the only party furnished with such details. He added that that way it would guide them to propose appropriate increment taking the country's economic performance, the number of employees and earnings into consideration. Moreover, he said it would give them a chance to know the impact of their proposal against government's ability to pay. He said negotiating without such data could lead to negotiating off mark, which has the potential of hindering collective bargaining process.

Asked whether unions are using the salary negotiation issue as a race to popularity and growth, he said unions' approaches were different. He said they took this approach, compared to industrial demonstrations, because they were representing 'a learned membership that demands that they do their homework thoroughly'. 

Earlier this year TAWU made an urgent application at the Industrial Court to sue government over failure by the DPSM to call them for a meeting on salary negotiations. However, the court ruled against them on the grounds that they did not give the DPSM prior notice.  Keitseng had accused the DPSM of cutting TAWU and BOGOWU from any form of negotiations with the employer.

Meanwhile, the DPSM stated in a letter written in July that the delay in the submission of the requested information was due to the fact that the material was sourced from various ministries, which included former employing authorities and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.  Attempts to get Bakwena to comment on whether her department will accommodate the salary negotiation proposal from TAWU were fruitless as her phone rang unanswered.