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Mdladlana backs Zimbabwe's labour law reform
Zibonele Ntuli, BuaNews Online
June 14, 2004

http://www.gcis.gov.za/buanews/view.php?ID=04061410151002&coll=buanew04

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has backed Zimbabwe's move to allow collective bargaining and social dialogue between the government and trade unions, and also urged the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to be supportive of such a process.

Minister Mdladlana was speaking in Geneva today, at the ILO's 92nd session after the organisation's Standards Committee discussed Zimbabwe regarding violations of the organisation's Convention that deals with rights of collective bargaining.

It was the third time Zimbabwe appeared before the standards committee.

"The Zimbabwean government made it clear last year that it was committed to addressing the concerns put before the committee on questions of collective bargaining and social dialogue within the country.

"Since last year, the Zimbabwean government has already promulgated legislation that speaks directly to these concerns," Minister Mdladlana said.

Mr Mdladlana welcomed a commitment made by both the Zimbabwean government and trade unions to resolve the problems by emphasizing that the ILO should encourage and intensify the social dialogue process.

"We welcome the Kadoma Declaration as an outcome of discussions between the Government of Zimbabwe and its social partners. The parties confirmed that this Declaration lays the basis for an agreement to collectively confront the problems being faced by their country," he said.

He said he was pleased that the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and its government delegation that had reached an agreement about re-starting the mechanism and process of social dialogue.

"Zimbabwean workers and Government have expressed a willingness to take the process of social dialogue forward The ILO should be supportive and encouraging of such a process," he said.

The ILO Standards Committee that assesses whether Zimbabwe's legislation is in line with the convention also accepted the changes prohibiting interference in employer and worker organisations.

The Committee had gone a long way in addressing collective bargaining in the public sector, making arbitration compulsory only with the consent of the parties and making the Zimbabwean Labour Act as the supreme piece of Labour legislation.

"The information put forward to the Committee shows that the government has been in a process of labour law reform and it has taken constructive measures to address what had been construed as infringements of Convention No.98," he said.

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