Federations announce May Day theme
Secretary General of the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions ( BFTU), Thusang Butale has explained that the theme for this year’s labour day is ‘ Demanding Workers Rights and Economic Power’.
He notes that the BFTU and the Botswana Federation of Public Private and Parastatal Sector Unions agreed on this theme looking at the situation in Botswana. Butale said that there are rights that need to be enjoyed by workers in Botswana yet some are limited. Freedom of association in Botswana is limited as some employers discourage members from forming and joining unions. Butale said that in some industries such as the manufacturing industry, workers can be discouraged by their employers by firing those workers who want to start a union or ensuring that the workers do not reach the necessary numbers needed to form a union. Furthermore, Butale notes that some employers in Botswana do not want their workers to be part of any unions at all, infringing on their rights of association. Butale states that some laws such as the ones that deal with probation are unfair as an employer can decide to let someone go without any cause. Butale revealed that they have been trying to get the collective Bargaining Council back as there is currently no bargaining going on between employers and unions. He explains that the laws for collective bargaining are there but they are not functional and this negatively affects workers in the country. Butale urged workers to form and join trade unions, borrowing from the Setswana proverb ‘ moroto wa esi ga o ele’ which means that individually people cannot achieve anything but collectively they can get things done.
He further stated that workers should educate themselves with the labour laws of the land as sometimes they miss on pivotal things due to their lack of knowledge.