02 May 2016

The government of Botswana will continue to consider pleas and concerns raised by workers across all sectors of the economy in order to facilitate a smooth working and improved working conditions for all.

Officiating at May Day Commemoration activities in Gaborone at Tsholofelo Park on Sunday, the Assistant Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration Mr Dikgang Makgelemele said workers and the employer are a critical force in the development of the economy.

He therefore said the two should engage each other meaningfully for the benefit of each party and the country’s economic growth, noting that confrontation should be avoided at all costs, as that may derail both partners from realising their desired goals.

Meanwhile minister Makgelemele said the rights enjoyed by organised labour in this country were first and foremost rooted in the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, as guaranteed in the Constitution. 

These, he said, included the freedoms of assembly, association and expression, along with protection against servitude and discrimination.

He told the close to 1 000 workers and members of the community who graced the occasion that for its part government has done a lot in terms of protecting workers’ rights and improving working conditions. To this end, he noted, workers were allowed to form and belong to trade unions, and to bargaining collectively with employers.

In the meantime, he expressed his appreciation for the fact that trade unions had contributed to the improvement of the labour laws through the tripartite consultative structures like the Labour Advisory Board. Government also undertook to ensure that basic conditions of employment were regulated and enforced through labour inspections, the purpose of which was to ensure that workers and employers complied with labour laws.

In addition, he said the trade dispute resolution system had been modernised over the years, culminating in the establishment of the Industrial Court in 1994 and further refinement in 2004 to improve the way the mediation and arbitration processes, as well as adjudication by industrial courts were functioning.     

Meanwhile Mr Makgelemele, who was handed over a petition on behalf of Vice President Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi, over growing job losses and “undesirable working conditions with specific reference to the BCL Mine situation” by Botswana Federation of Trade Unions president Mr Bohitlhetswe Lentswe, said he would ensure that the petition was delivered and attended to.

He said since the petition was addressed to the Vice President there was nothing much that he could say but nevertheless said the issues raised are of paramount importance, hence the government would surely and critically look into them as a way forward.

The petition which was read over by BFTU secretary general Mr Gadzani Mhotsha, in part noted that over the 12 past months, concerned unions had witnessed an “unprecedented number of retrenchments, and at times company closures in the country.ENDS