LABOUR INSPECTIONS
GOVERNMENT’S decision to incorporate District Commissioners and industry partners in the labour inspection teams will enhance transparency and ensure increased compliance levels.
Labour inspectors will now be accompanied by DCs, trade union leaders, representatives from National Pensions Scheme Authority and Workers Compensation Fund Control Board as they conduct inspections in work places.
Workers have for a long time been complaining about poor work environment and casualisation in various sectors.
Factory workers in some industries are exposed to hazardous conditions and operate without protective clothing.
In other instances, employers do not facilitate regular medical check-ups for their employees as required by the law while other firms subject workers to long working hours.
Some employers have been abusing workers through casualisation on tasks that are supposed to be filled by employees engaged on permanent basis.
One complaint which stands out from grieving employees is that labour inspectors do not regularly visit factories and other work places.
It is also true that employees have accused labour inspectors of being compromised in the few occasions that they visit companies.
We therefore welcome the announcement by Labour and Social Security Minister Joyce Simukoko that the inspection teams have been boosted to include senior Government officials, trade union leaders and representatives from the two parastatal firms under the Labour Ministry.
This integrated approach will eliminate chronic deficiencies and allegations of corruption against labour inspectors.
Yes, Ms Simukoko’s consultative meetings have brought to the fore a number of issues that require an integrated approach which has incorporated social partners and industry interest groups.
The decision to widen the scope is certainly an admission that the inspection process has in the past been riddled with inefficiencies and lacklustre attitude on the part of labour inspectors.
Of course, corruption cannot completely be ruled out.
In particular, workers’ complaints have resonated in the trade sub-sector and manufacturing industry where it has been alleged that some employers lock-up workers in hazardous environments.
It will be prudent therefore that the expanded inspection teams conduct regular impromptu visits to firms and ensure that all employers who are flouting the law are brought to book without any delay.
Secondly, such inspections should be conducted even in the night because night shift workers are the most abused employees.
There will also be need to enhance workers’ education on the provisions of the law such as the Industrial and Labour Relations Act, Employment Act, Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act and other pieces of legislation.
Trade unions should reactivate their education units to meet workers’ aspirations.
Labour leaders, for instance, should ensure that their members understand that the Zambian labour laws do not allow hiring casual workers for tasks of permanent nature.
It is clear that the Employment Act amended in 2015 makes casualisation and unjustifiable termination of contracts of employment illegal.
However, one of the biggest challenges is that the labour movement itself has been performing below par as some of the leaders are not adept with operations in the industry. They do not understand the labour laws.
This is the more reason why the collective bargaining process is manipulated by crafty management teams that are always way above trade union teams in both capacity and negotiating skills.
In many instances, the nation has witnessed trade union leaders complain about low salaries offered to members yet they append their signatures to collective agreements with paltry figures.
In the end, the workers are disadvantaged by their own representatives on one hand and their employers on the other.
This means that the employee suffers abuse and poor conditions of service and poor representation by their own trade unions.
While Government has moved a step ahead by expanding the labour inspection teams, the labour movement should work out a checklist to ensure that only competent leaders hold positions in trade unions.
Thus the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions and the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia must raise the bar.