Independent Trade Unions of Mozambique oppose ruling on foreign workers

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Independent Trade Unions of Mozambique oppose ruling on foreign workers

9:36 CAT | 31 May 2017

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The Confederation of Independent and Free Trade Unions of Mozambique (CONSILMO) yesterday said it found the ruling of the Constitutional Council (CC) to declare unconstitutional a regulation empowering the Minister of Labour to expel foreign workers a dangerous precedent.

“The decision of the Constitutional Council creates a dangerous precedent, because it will leave Mozambican workers vulnerable to abuses by foreign bosses,” Jerónimo Timana, secretary general of CONSILMO, told Lusa.

By cancelling the power of the Minister of Labour to annul foreigners’ work permits, he continued, the CC would in effect allow expatriates to treat Mozambican workers undignified manner.

“The producers of wealth in companies are sometimes exposed to degrading treatments, contrary to the ways and customs of Mozambicans,” he added.

While acknowledging that the decision of the CC could not be appealed, CONSILMO, in agreement with other unions, would explore the possibility of publicly expressing its rejection of the decision, Timana said.

“We will study possible options for displaying our repudiation of this law within the democratic and legal framework,” he added.

In its decision, the Mozambican CC sought more specifically to address the fact that the rule allowed the termination of a work permit in Mozambique without the right of the expatriate to contest it.

The CC intervened in the case, in response to a request from the Ombudsman in support of a request from the Commercial and Industrial Association of Mozambique (ACIS) to consider the law unconstitutional.

ACIS believes that the precept has damaged several companies, who are left without managers with skills rare in the labour market in Mozambique, and undermines the business environment.

“This decision corrects what was wrong. What we want is a good business environment,” ACIS chairman Carlos Henriques said at a press conference in Maputo this month.

Several foreign workers were expelled from Mozambique on orders from the Ministry of Labour for alleged violations of labour standards, including racism and ill-treatment.

Source: Lusa