ZCTU secretary-general, Japhet Moyo

TRIPARTITE Negotiation Forum (TNF) stakeholders from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe (EMCOZ) have expressed mixed feelings towards the recently proposed Zero Draft Labour Bill in a development that is likely to prolong the labour law reform crisis in the country.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary general, Japhet Moyo, said he was disappointed by the manner in which the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare was handling the matter, which he described as contradicting the agreements reached earlier.
He said that the bill was doctored by a consultancy firm which was unilaterally appointed by government in violation of the spirit of tripartism.
“Instead of the consultant interpreting and basing the proposed bill on prior agreements reached by TNF, he decided to rewrite the Labour Act and of interest is a clause which talks about the creation of the Employment Board which we had never talked about. Secondly, there is inclusion of the fact that payment of women on maternity leave should be the responsibility of government and all this is not in sync with what had been agreed. The deplorable factor is that over half a decade has been spent discussing the issue of labour law reform,” Moyo said.
Moyo said during the Government of National Unity, TNF had made significant strides but the successive Cabinet reshuffles delayed the finalisation of the matter as new ministers required time to grasp the matters at hand. He pointed out that when TNF principals had agreed on the 13 principles, government chose to go it alone by unilaterally appointing a consultant to craft the Zero Labour Draft Bill which does not speak to the agreed principles.
A TNF insider who spoke to the Financial Gazette’s Companies & Markets on condition of anonymity revealed that EMCOZ, which represents the business fraternity, had concurred with the ZCTU.
The employers’ body was also unhappy with appointment of a consultant without consensus but speculation suggested that business was likely to support the Bill as it does not largely threaten their position.
EMCOZ executive director, John Mufukare, declined to comment on the matter, saying the Bill was still under the confederation’s review process.
“At the moment we do not have an official position. However, we recently held a consultative meeting with business. The findings of the meeting still have to go through the required structures before an official position is communicated,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from government were fruitless as the Public Service Labour and Social Welfare Ministry spokesperson, Constance Makoni, said she had not received comments from the relevant officials at the time of going to press.
Bulawayo based labour analyst, Davies Sibanda, said while the Zero Labour Draft Bill should not be taken seriously, there was the risk that it could influence the forthcoming Labour Act if relevant stakeholders were not decisive in making serious contributions.
“One of the key weaknesses is that the document was drafted without prior consultation by drafters who lack expertise in labour matters. This is witnessed by clauses which state that ordinary employees and their superiors can all become a part of one workers committee at the workplace. Under the arrangement, one wonders how exactly subordinates and their superiors can easily debate issues affecting them,” he said.
Sibanda added that the Bill did not take into account the fact that national employment councils had been built over the last three decades; overnight, these councils would simply be replaced by boards which put both workers and employers in a quandary. He criticised the Bill for excluding confederations like the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions in dealing with issues involving workers disputes.
“The Bill neither represents the interests of workers nor employees and the worst that it can achieve is to damage the economy and place the country’s labour relations in dire straits. It is a totally new document which is only introducing matters that will require time to learn,” added Sibanda.
A high level mission from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that visited Zimbabwe last month recommended that all partners to the TNF should take part in drafting legislative amendments to the Labour Act, which should be tabled in Parliament by May this year.
The mission was in Zimbabwe between February 20 and 23.
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