Over 1,200 jobs lost in Nampula province as 30 companies close – Mozambique

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Over 1,200 jobs lost in Nampula province as 30 companies close – Mozambique

7:44 CAT | 14 Oct 2016

Over 1,200 workers have lost their jobs because of the closure of 30 companies in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, due to the current economic crisis the country is facing.

These figures were announced on Thursday, at a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the foundation of Mozambique’s main trade union federation, the OTM (Mozambican Workers’ Organisation), by the OTM’s Nampula secretary, Celestino Silverio.

Silverio said the trade union movement is deeply worried by these redundancies, and their impact on the families of the workers concerned and hence on the general level of poverty.

Since the OTM has no way to oblige the companies to keep the workers employed, it can only accompany the cases, to ensure respect for the labour law, and to guarantee that the requisite redundancy payments are made.

“When a company declares that it is bankrupt or unable to continue its activities due to the economic crisis and the politico-military situation in the country, we have no way to oblige them to continue”, said Silverio. “We are just acting to defend the workers, ensuring that they are compensated”.

He also denounced ill-treatment of workers, notably the failure to comply with the legally established number of working hours per day. The problem was particularly acute in building companies, particularly Chinese ones.

“Unfortunately the Chinese employers have no consideration for the workers, and they mistreat them”, Silverio accused. “They are not complying with the law. And as a union, we have been working to reverse this situation”.

Silverio took the opportunity to urge the parties involved in the current armed conflict to reach an understanding, in order to secure effective peace in Mozambique. He believed that with peace, the economic crisis could be brought under control, since people and goods would be able to move around the country in safety.

Source: AIM