Over 30,000 Workers March Demanding Social Dialogue and Justice

1 May 2011

Maputo — Over 30,000 workers from a number of sectors of activity marched in Maputo on Sunday, as part of the celebrations of the International Workers’ Day, demanding social dialogue and justice, better wages and working conditions.

During the celebrations, held under the theme “Trade unions for an effective social dialogue”, workers demanded among other rights, fair distribution of wealth, investment in vocational training, more secure jobs, fight against crime and corruption.

Speaking during the rally, shortly after the march, Carlos Mucareia, Chairperson of Mozambique’s largest trade union federation, OTM-CS, urged employers to continue dialogue with workers at their workplace for better wages in accordance with the performance and financial status of each individual company operating in the country.

“We are confident that our message, which has been enriched with a number other messages from workers, has reached its target. Also, we believe that employers took notice of all issues raised today because Mozambican workers are growing in terms of awareness of their rights and consolidating their ground in every space, while they are also aware of what they want and how”, warned Mucareia.

He added that year after year Mozambican workers have clearly shown their willingness to continue fighting peacefully for their rights, stressing that acts of violence will only cause more violence and lead to destruction. .

OTM-CS, according to Mucareia, believes that social dialogue in Mozambique should be understood not only at the level of the Consultative Labour Commission (CCT) as many believe, noting that this concept should be broaden to reach every company because it is there where the culture of work must be ensured.

CCT is a tripartite negotiating body which includes government representatives, trade unions and employers’ associations.

“It’s not enough to create structures and put them to work. For instance, the issue of the basic food basket recently adopted by the government should have been submitted to CCT for discussion to ensure its implementation, which didn’t happen. Hence, OTM believes that dialogue is yet far from effective, “explained Mucareia.

For her part, Madalena Zandamela, head of organization in the OTM-CS, told AIM that trade unionism in Mozambique is already a reality but there are still many challenges lying ahead as social dialogue does not only mean to negotiate minimum wages in the country, but also other issues with impact on social life. .

“We face as major challenges training of workers in matters governing trade unionism principles and advance in initiatives that will ensure participation of trade unions in forums and discussions of major problems the country is facing. Therefore, we demand an effective social dialogue, “concluded Zandamela.

These demands arise because in the first week of April the government decided to institute a subsidised food basket to alleviate the cost of living for low income families.

Food will not be given away, but the government will set a reference price for a basket of basic goods and will pay the difference between this price and the market price.

The measures also include free passes for public transport, and will cover people earning less than 2,500 meticais a month (about 83 US dollars).

Unfortunately, the government failed to involve the trade unions in the discussions that led to the adoption of the food basket and other measures, which caused much frustration among the workers.

Few days later, Labour Minister Helena Taipo recognised the legitimacy of concerns raised by OTM-CS, explaining that the urgency of the matter dictated the exclusion of the trade unions from the discussions.

AllAfrica – All the Time