Mozambican trade unionists prepare congress

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Mozambican trade unionists prepare congress

8:36 CAT | 30 Nov 2018

File photo: O País

The largest trade union federation in Mozambique, the OTM (Mozambican Workers’ Organisation) is preparing a Congress to elect its new leadership, and draw up strategies to face the challenges of the moment.

Speaking at a Maputo press conference on Friday, OTM chairperson Samuel Matsinhe said the congress, due to be held on 6-7 December in the southern city of Matola, comes at a difficult moment for the Mozambican labour movement, which is still battling for the right of workers to organise freely into unions.

Matsinhe thought it worrying that, after 42 years of the OTM’s existence, there are still employers who prevent their workers from exercising union rights freely. In some cases, this takes the form of harassing or dismissing the most active trade unionists.

“Without social dialogue in the companies, there is no space to struggle for improvements in the workers’ conditions”, said Matsinhe. “So the Congress will assess the labour situation of workers, define the guiding principles of the organisation and revise the OTM statutes to bring them into line with the demands of the moment”.

He stressed that the Congress is being organised at a time then the Labour Law is being revised. He feared that the changes proposed to the law will reduce the protection by the state that workers currently enjoy.

A strong union movement was needed to face regressive aspects in the proposals to amend the law, Matsinhe said.

“Workers are called upon to join trade unions to make then stronger at a time when the chapter in the Labour Law on work contracts and redundancy pay is requiring deep reflection”.

He warned that the current model of contracts and redundancy pay favours the mass sackings that are curently taking place.

The OTM is a federation of 15 trade unions, with a total of about 180,000 members.

Source: AIM