BOPEU P2 million-rent subsidy sparks protest

CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer | Friday February 25, 2011 00:00

This has been revealed by the Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mokgweetsi Masisi, after being asked by the Gaborone South legislator Kagiso Molatlhegi to confirm if it is true that government has been paying rentals for the union.

The minister disclosed that government's assistance to BOPEU dated back to the time it was still a staff association called the Botswana Civil Servants Association (BCSA).

He said the rationale was for the employer to assist the organisation with office accommodation in order for it to function efficiently, to service its members and to promote a conducive industrial climate in the public service.

Masisi further explained that the terms of the agreement between government and the union were that the assistance would be subject to the availability of resources and be reviewed by the parties whenever the need arose, to determine its relevance and sustainability.

While the secretary-generals of all recognised unions have been seconded to the unions for the effective running of the unions, only BOPEU is enjoying the assistance with rentals.  This prompted the Trainers and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) to lodge a dispute at the Department of Labour and the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs 'for trade union discrimination' by their employer, the DPSM.

In a letter dated August 3, 2010 from the Department of Labour to the DPSM, TAWU decries favouritism (of one union receiving financial assistance) and wants the same 'favour' extended to all unions.

Speaking to Mmegi yesterday, TAWU President Allan Keitseng accused BOPEU of having received assistance in the form of rentals and payment of officers.

'We approached them (DPSM) at one point and they admitted to assisting BOPEU long before it was unionised - when it was known as the Botswana Civil Service Association (BCSA). All unions must be treated equally,' Keitseng said adding that it was unfair for the unions that were not being assisted financially to compete on the same level with those receiving the rental subsidy. 

However, BOPEU President Andrew Motsamai has described the difference with other unions as an organisational right that they are enjoying, as practised elsewhere in the world.

'It is the law that provides for organisational rights as per their need to operate effectively. I would not say it is unfair because the question is: did those other unions request and negotiate for assistance to enable them to function effectively?'

Motsamai said assisting unions is part and parcel of what he characterised as 'maturity level' between the employer and unions.

Meanwhile, the dispute is expected to be heard at the Department of Labour on March 29.