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No. 00267 |
April 26 - May 2, 2003 |
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May Day Arusha: The struggle continuesIt’s May Day again this week and as usual the local workers’ grievances in Arusha are inevitable. Trade unionist, Francis Maembe from CHODAWU allows Nyamanoko Bwire a glimpse behind the scenes of Labour Day’s fetes and problems affecting Arusha employees.QUESTION: The Conservation, Hotel and Domestic Workers Union (CHODAWU) organized May Day celebrations which were held at national level in Arusha last year. Who are the organizers of this year’s May day fete?
ANSWER: This year, the Moshi Chapter of Communication and Transport Workers Union (COTWU) Tanzania, are the main organizers behind the May day celebrations in Arusha region. Q: Where do the judges who normally select May day event winners come from? A: Some of them come from the Arusha Regional Chapter of Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Trade (TCCIA) and the rest are from the government. Q: Are these judges ever changed? A: At the moment there are no plans to replace them because we haven’t got better judges to do the job. There is also this condition of having neutral judges who are not involved in any company or institution. They also must have had long experiences in various pantomimes such as national trade shows, agricultural shows and the like. Q: Last year, A to Z Textile Mills emerged winners of foot marching processions. But as it turned out there were speculations that their winning came from the fact that they had put on T-shirts with pictures of President Benjamin Mkapa, who was the guest of honour. Is that so? A: No! No! No! That is not true. A to Z did not win the award for wearing President Mkapa’s T-shirts but because they had arranged themselves properly and got all the necessary points required. A to Z have always been winning the awards in the past even without the alleged T-shirts. Q: Do companies have to pay anything to be registered for May Day events? A: Just some little contributions starting at Tsh.50,000 onwards. This is not exactly payment but something to help with the organizing costs like purchasing of awards, arrangement of venues and similar expenditures. The various awards given at the fetes, always go back to their own employees. Q: How do you make sure that, the best workers are given the prizes promised by their employees? A: That is simple, we have made it a rule that all employees receive their presents right away and then at the Labour’s Day celebrations on the 1st of May. Q: Have any of the workers complaints as presented at the last year’s May day celebrations got any solutions? A: The current Labour Acts amendments are still being worked on and if fact, I think by now the law has been amended. The low scale salary has also been improved because the lowest salary scale is now Tsh.45,000 having been raised from the previous Tsh.30,000. Q: What exactly are the main problems affecting local workers in Arusha today? A: Many and it is not just in Arusha but countrywide. I will just mention a few. Workers’ cases of complaints always take long to be solved when taken to the relevant authorities. The law states that, these cases should be dealt with in seven days but they usually take even two years. Again, most employers still refuse to pay their workers the fixed salary scales as set by the government. Others prohibit their employees from joining local trade unions for some reasons. Q: How do trade unions help workers get their rights? A: Local trade unions work hard to protect their members interests at work places. We don’t wait for the government to decide. We fight for our members’ rights and interests. |
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Last modified:
April 25, 2003. Webmaster: WDJMallya |
