Mozambique’s current situation “a thorny test for those defending labour,” says workers union

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Mozambique’s current situation “a thorny test for those defending labour,” says workers union

2:26 CAT | 04 Apr 2016

The Mozambique workers’ organization OTM says that the current social, political and economic situation is a thorny test of its ability to defend the rights and interests of workers, and that signals from the executive suggest that natural disasters will make 2016 even tougher than last year

According to a statement issued last weekend, the drought in the south and floods in the north are beyond government’s expectations, a scenario that could create problems for production.

“It is against this backdrop that the Mozambican labour movement embarks on its perennial fight for better pay and working conditions for Mozambican workers – a thorny test of its ability to defend the rights and interests of workers,” the organisation’s “Minimum wage in Mozambique” statement reads.

As for 2015, the OTM says that it was not merely a difficult year, but in fact one in which the workforce undertook a “Herculean exercise” just to survive.

The year 2015 brought together such challenges as “the rising price of bread, water and electricity, and charcoal, in addition to indispensable food products, all exacerbated by the prolonged drought in the southern region of the country and the resurgence of politico-military conflict”.

“For the Mozambican worker, whether in industry or agriculture, postponing lunch in order to eat dinner, travelling in the dusty wind of open public passenger transport, postponing registering to study and washing your clothes at night so you can put them back on in the morning were not just features of 2015, but a scenario workers know well and have endured for years,” the statement reads.

The document adds that “In the last four months of the year, the economic situation of workers and the general population has worsened, scapegoat for one single factor: the American dollar”.

The OTM is a member of the tripartite Consultative Labour Commission, which brings together the government, employers and trade unions and conducts a general assessment of the economic and social situation of the country in order to provide recommendations for economic and social development, including the fixing of the national minimum wage.

Source: AIM