Do Not Engage In Planned Workplace Based Demonstrations - Mavima To Employees
The Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paul Mavima has urged workers to ignore all protests being planned by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), New Zimbabwe reports.
According to the publication, the minister was reportedly shocked by ZCTU mobilising workplace-based demonstrations before exhausting the necessary formal channels to address the plight of the employees.
Speaking to the publication, Mavima reportedly said the demonstration calls were made to pursue opposition political interests:
What is the motive behind the demonstrations? Workers must dissociate themselves from such industrial actions being organised by labour leaders who have chosen to renege on their responsibility to advance workers issues and instead pursue an opposition political agenda
Mavima reportedly also addressed the issue of paying salaries in USD as demanded by ZCTU and said:
That cannot be achieved. It is important to highlight that workers come from different sectors and they are represented at various national employment councils. So labour must make use of these platforms and engage employers in their respective sectors through dialogue and reach amicable solutions
When contacted for comment on the issue ZCTU Secretary General Japhet Moyo said:
It cannot be said to be a ‘political agenda’ unless we all agree that politics is the distribution of resources and at the moment workers are at the receiving end.
ZCTU urged workers to engage in workplace-based strikes in a bid to compel their employers to increase their wages.
More: New Zimbabwe
