Proposed revision of Mozambican Labour Law divides government and private sector

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Proposed revision of Mozambican Labour Law divides government and private sector

4:08 CAT | 12 Apr 2019

MITESS, Maputo. Photo: O País

The Mozambican government and employers represented by the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) are on a collision course. Agostinho Vuma, who heads the CTA, says that the proposal submitted by the Council of Ministers to parliament does not reflect the CTA’s aspirations, while Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security Vitória Diogo says that the conclusions taken to the Council of Ministers reflect the consensus of the players involved in discussion about labour legislation, and that the government regards the CTA’s position with concern and surprise.

The discussion on the revision of the Labour Law, Law 23/2007 of 1 August, has long aroused heated debate in certain circles, especially among employers, trade unions and the government. What was not foreseen was that the debate would slide into tension between protagonists Agostinho Vuma of the CTA and Vitória Diogo on the government side.

Last Thursday, the CTA went to parliament’s Commission on Constitutional Affairs, Human Rights and Legality, the first Commission of the Assembly of the Republic to be heard, its president Agostinho Vuma there declaring that all the private sector’s contributions had been set aside.

“The Council of Ministers did not take notice of our contributions. The ministry concluded the process within its own perceptions, which resulted in a mismatch between the objectives and the development of the text under consideration,” he said, quoted by newspaper O Pais.

As far as the CTA was concerned, the new law, if approved as is, would represent a setback for peaceful labour relations.

Reacting to these pronouncements, the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, said it was surprised by the concern expressed by the president of the CTA.

“We find it strange that after the process has been completed, information that does not constitute the truth of the process is brought forward,” Minister Vitoria Diogo said. “And we, the Mozambican government, are a responsible government. We will continue to be consistent, we will continue to communicate the truth of the facts to Mozambicans, workers and citizens about what has happened.”

From Diogo’s point of view, everyone’s interests must be safeguarded and not just the interests of employers – to the detriment of those of the workers, the Mozambican state, and Mozambican sovereignty.

On his Facebook page, Vuma says: “After a whole process of consultations around this revision, it was unilaterally on the part of the ministry that a text was drawn up to be sent to the Council of Ministers, without even the knowledge of the employers.”

The proposal for the revision of the Labour Law is now with the Assembly of the Republic.

By Amândio Borges

Source: O País