Mushala urges workers to show worthiness

Mushala urges workers to show worthiness

Chipata, May 2, ZANIS ——–Eastern province Permanent Secretary Bert Mushala has urges workers in the province to demonstrate the ability to add value through discipline, good time management and overall commitment towards work.

Mr Mushala said there was need for workers to support the concept of productivity by ensuring that they brought on board positive attitude towards work.

He was speaking during this year’s Labour Day celebration held at David Kaunda stadium in Chipata yesterday.

The Permanent Secretary stated that government was committed to ensuring that decent jobs are created through increased investment in social and economic programmes for sustainable development.

“The Patriotic Front government has also embarked on comprehensive structural reform whose focus will be to make the public sector more efficient in service delivery and act as an effective ingredient to national development,” he said.

He further said government remains committed to comprehensive reform of the labour laws of the nation in order to bring them in line with the labour market dynamics.

Mr Mushala however urged employers to pay fair wages and refrain from bad labour practices such as abuse and exploitation of labour.

And speaking at the same function,  Zambia Federation of Employers Representative Wamuwi Changani said creation and effective labour law reforms and better condition of service requires adequate and a strong national  labour administration system.

Mr Changani stated that there was need to adequately fund the Ministry of Labour to overcome governance problems that would prevent the ministry from performing its core role of labour administration and other responsibilities.

He stressed the need for social dialogues among stakeholders to unite efforts to be applied at all levels including types of negotiations and broad political institutions of democracy, policy and regulation formulation.

“The state should take a lead to practice this during all types of negotiations, consultations and exchange of information among representatives of different groups on common interest in economic labour and social policy.

He said transformation of any economy, employment creation, labour law reforms attainment of better conditions of service and improved work culture was dependent on social dialogue hence the need to find practical rules and policies for broad benefit of society.

Meanwhile, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions Trustee Sifuniso Nyumbu said it was the responsibility of government to ensure that all labour laws that were being approved were aimed at improving the welfare and protecting the working class in the country.

Mr Nyumbu stated that the trade union demands for better quality jobs for the people as decent work was the foundation of the fight against poverty and inequality in society.

He however, said workers were a backbone in implementing government policies, hence the need for them to double productivity through a positive work culture so that demands for improved conditions of work could be justifiable.