Maravi

'The labour movement has lost its vibrancy'

'The labour movement has lost its vibrancy'
By The Post
Wed 27 June 2012, 13:25 CAT

IT cannot be denied that the labour movement in Zambia has lost its vibrancy.What may be debatable, however, are the reasons for this. And Benson Ng'ambo, a trade unionist, says the labour movement has lost its vibrancy because trade union members are not holding union leaders accountable, the art of worker representation, workers stood alone devoid of true union leadership in the quest for decent wages, working conditions and employee welfare.

Benson urges the workers of Zambia to team up and form one strong union that will live up to their aspirations. A lot has happened since 1991 in the way labour is organised. The situation has not been favourable for workers and their unions. The new setup has not encouraged strong trade unions; it has in fact decimated them.

A new awareness, a new approach is required from our workers and their representatives. The new conditions under which we are living favour much more a better return on capital than on labour. And our successive governments have proved to be more and more inclined to support and defend capital over labour.

And our workers should know from experience that they must count on themselves and their own initiatives more than on the benevolence of capital. It would be a delusion for them to wait passively for a change of heart on the part of capital, in those who, as Abraham warns us, "We will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead" (Luke 16:31).

It is primarily up to our workers to effect their own betterment. They must regain confidence in themselves. They must work zealously to fashion their own destiny. They must open their ears to those who can awaken and shape the conscious awareness of those who labour.

Changes must be made; present conditions must be improved. Finally, the working people and the poor must get together, for only unity will enable the workers and the poor to demand and achieve real justice.

The workers and the poor are hungering for truth and justice, and those who are entrusted with the task of teaching and educating them should do so with enthusiasm. Certain erroneous viewpoints must be wiped away without delay.
If some try to monopolise for themselves what others need, then it is the duty of public authority to carry out the distribution that was not made willingly.

In like manner, we cannot allow rich foreigners to come and exploit our impoverished people under the pretext of developing commerce and industry; nor can we allow rich nationals to exploit their own nation. These things incite the exasperating strains of excessive nationalism, which is hostile to authentic collaboration among peoples.

Workers have a right and a duty to form real trade unions, so that they may press for and defend their rights. These rights include a just wage, social security and so on and so forth. It is not enough for these rights to be recognised on paper by the law. The laws must be implemented, and government must exercise its powers in this area to serve the working people and the poor.

It is high time that the workers and the poor, supported and guided by their legitimate government, defend their right to live. When God appeared to Moses, it was said to him: "I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt, I have heard their appeal to be free of their slave drivers…I mean to deliver them" (Exodus 3:7).

Jesus took all humanity upon himself to lead it to eternal life. And the earthly foreshadowing of this is social justice, the first form of brotherly love. When Jesus freed humankind from death through his resurrection, he brought all human liberation movements to their fullness in eternity.

Therefore, workers unions to which workers have a right should acquire sufficient strength and power. They ought to exercise their right of being represented, also, on the social, economic and political levels where decisions are made which touch upon the common good. Therefore, the unions ought to use every means at their disposal to train those who are to carry out these responsibilities in moral, economic and especially in technical matters.

Situations of grave injustice require the courage to make far-reaching reforms and to suppress unjustifiable privileges. The fight against injustice is meaningless unless it is waged with a view to establishing a new social and political order in conformity with the demands of justice.

Justice must already mark each stage of the establishment of this order. And we must always bear in mind that whatever affects the dignity of individuals and peoples cannot be reduced to a technical problem. If reduced in this way, development would be emptied of its true content, and this would be an act of betrayal of the individuals and peoples whom development is meant to serve.

There are problems, serious problems, in our labour movement - in its leadership and organisation. A new approach is required, accompanied by a new awareness. The current type of leadership and organisation of our labour movement doesn't seem to be taking our workers anywhere.

Our trade unions, in their current form and organisation, don't seem to be adequately serving the interests of the workers. They seem to be there for the benefit of those who lead them in terms of allowances, salaries, political clout and so on and so forth. In saying this, we are not in any way trying to attack any individual, although each individual labour or union leader can be made to account for themselves.

Our trade union movement needs re-thinking, re-orientation and re-alignment. Things are not simply working. Awareness has been lost and there is no vision on the part of the leadership to help our workers and their organisations navigate through this very challenging epoch.

Today, it is impossible not to take account of the realities in which our workers work and live. To ignore them would mean becoming like the "rich man" who pretended not to know the beggar Lazarus lying at his gate (Luke 16:19-31).
Our daily life as well as our decisions in the political and economic fields must be marked by these realities.

Likewise, our political leaders, while they are obliged to keep in mind the true human dimensions as a priority in their development plans, should not forget to give precedence to the plight of the workers. The motivating concern for the workers and the poor must be translated at all levels into concrete action, until it decisively attains a series of necessary reforms. We need to reform certain unjust structures.

For the health of the political community -as expressed in the free and responsible participation of all citizens in public affairs, in the rule of law, and in the respect for and promotion of human rights - is the necessary condition and sure guarantee of the development of the whole individual and of all persons.

None of what has been stated can be achieved without the collaboration of all in the framework of a solidarity which includes everyone, beginning with the most neglected. But at the same time, solidarity demands a readiness to accept the sacrifices necessary for the good of the whole nation.

This is what is demanded by the present moment and above all, by the very dignity of the human person. Let's not forget that good jobs are the dividing line in many families between decent life and a wrecked existence. Therefore, workers need an effective, efficient and strong trade union to represent them both in the economic and the political arena.

The weak and fragmented labour movement we have today, coupled with a visionless, greedy and corrupt leadership, cannot effectively and efficiently fight for the interests of workers in today's very complicated globalised world.

Labels: LABOUR

posted by MrK @ 4:00 PM