Mozambique: Trade unionists warn of job losses because of pandemic

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Mozambique: Trade unionists warn of job losses because of pandemic

6:39 CAT | 02 May 2020

Photo: Noticias

Mozambique’s main trade union federation, the OTM (Organisation of Mozambican Workers), warned on Friday that about 15,000 workers could lose their jobs because of the measures taken by some companies in reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The warning came from the OTM General Secretary, Antonio Munguambe, after he had laid a wreath at Maputo’s Monument to the Mozambican Heroes, on the occasion of International Workers’ Day.

So far, he said, 514 companies, employing 15,622 workers, had given notice of their intention to cease their activities, or to take a range of less serious measures, such as obliging their workers to take collective holidays, temporarily suspending their work contracts, or cutting the number of hours worked.

Munguambe said that suspending the operations of a factory should not be used as an excuse to stop paying the workers their wages. Where possible, he urged, wages should not only be maintained, but should be increased through local bargaining.

In the face of the pandemic, the Labour Consultative Council (CCT), the tripartite negotiating body between the government, the trade unions and the employers’ associations, suspended this year’s discussions on the statutory minimum wage. As a result, the annual increase in the minimum wage, which normally takes effect in April, has been put on hold indefinitely.

But there is nothing to stop employers and unions negotiating wage rises in individual workplaces.

Munguambe feared that the pandemic would add to the extreme poverty facing many Mozambicans, and he urged employers not to take advantage of the current crisis to expel workers or violate their rights.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Labour Minister Margarida Talapa said that the National Social Security Institute (INSS) will pay benefits to workers infected by Covid-19 – but only if they have paid contributions to the INSS.

Workers who had paid their social security contributions could claim sickness benefits if they fell ill because of the pandemic, she said, and their families could claim benefits if they died.

The problem with this is that workers’ contributions to the INSS are deducted from their wages, and many dishonest employers fail to channel the money to the INSS. So these workers have paid their contributions, but the money goes into the employers’ pockets and not to the INSS. When sickness strikes, the workers find that they are not entitled to benefits.

Talapa said her ministry is in permanent communication with the employers to ensure respect for workers’ rights. “We are attentive all the time, looking at what is happening in the country”, she said.

This year’s May Day celebrations were very different from those of the past. Because of the social distancing rules, only a handful of people could attend the wreath-laying ceremony. The traditional May Day parade, with thousands of workers marching through central Maputo, was cancelled altogether.

Source: AIM