Mozambique: Court cancels departure, transit of pigeon peas seized from ETG by competitor
Photo: DW
After a year and a half without being paid, the workers of Sementes de Moçambique (SEMOC) say they are unable to put bread on the table or meet their families’ other needs, leading them to go on strike at the end of March.
Speaking to DW on condition of anonymity, one of the workers says he regrets the situation, but that he is living on the charity of friends.
“I am a SEMOC worker. We have not been paid for 18 months. In my house, where I have just finished selling the furniture, my children no longer have school uniforms, and I am living on charity. The [SEMOC] bosses threaten people, saying that anyone who takes action could lose their jobs and rights. Our colleagues have been left with nothing, and have already left their workplaces,” he reports.
“It is necessary to eat”
Another striking worker, also speaking on condition of anonymity, says that the situation is already ‘old news’, and not a finger is lifted when the matter reaches the managers’ ears.
“So, how are we to survive, and what are we to eat? For us to work, to go to work, we need to eat. Everyday life here in the city requires money. So, with what will we buy things, if we are not paid our wages?” the desperate worker says.
SEMOC workers also say that they no longer have mains water and electricity at home, because the utility companies have cut off services to their homes due to non-payment of bills.
Company says it is addressing the problem
Gonçalves Canivete, representative of Sementes de Moçambique in Manica, acknowledges the non-payment of salaries, but says that the company is making “efforts so that the problem can be resolved soon”.
Canivete says, however, that finance for the company is not included in the State Budget, which makes it difficult to obtain resources.
“Actually, they are receiving without doing anything. What happens is that the worker must be paid, but we are not covered by the General State Budget. We receive from our own production, so if there is no production, then naturally there is no payment. We haven’t been producing anything for about four or five years,” Canivete says.
In response to DW questions, the provincial delegate of the Labour Inspection in Manica, Eusébio Mateus, said he was not aware that SEMOC workers had not been paid for 18 months, but promised to look for ways to resolve the conflict at the firm, which is dedicated to production of improved seeds.
Source: Deutsche Welle
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