By Mercy Matonga:
Minister of Labour Peter Dimba has admitted that labour conditions still remain dire in many companies across the country.
Dimba said this Monday in Lilongwe during a meeting with Chipiku officials and staff as part of a decent work awareness campaign being conducted this month in connection with Labour Day, which is recognised every May.
Dimba said the ministry dealt with 280 complaints last year among the hundreds the ministry received.
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“Through over 2,800 labour inspections conducted in the past year, the ministry identified persistent decent work deficits in many workplaces, including lack of job security, poor working conditions, low wages and limited social protection,” he said.
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The minister also said this is why the current awareness programme is reinforcing the labour inspections and targeting all workplaces, with special emphasis on micro, small and medium enterprises.
This, he added, is to provide a platform for engagement between the ministry, workers and employers, so that workers are informed of their labour rights and decent work standards and employers understand their obligations and the importance of compliance with labour laws.
Dimba further said his ministry believes that through these teach-ins, both employers and employees will learn and demonstrate knowledge on decent work, including awareness of workplace hazards, general working conditions, labour rights and the process of workers’ compensation.
Occupational Safety and Health Expert for the Zantchito Programme, Johannes Mandowa, said there is a need to establish strong policies to support workplaces.
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“May I bring to your attention that the traditional command approach, centred on law enforcement through inspections, has been proven globally to be ineffective in achieving the desired results of inducing compliance if implemented as a stand-alone initiative,” Mandowa said.
He further said that for self-compliance with labour laws and standards to happen, education and training are key and should be the foundation of any labour administration system.
This meeting is one of several organised as part of a campaign to inform and educate people about workers’ rights.
It is supported by the European Union (EU) under the Zantchito Programme and will be conducted in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
The programme is a labour-focused initiative aiming to improve working conditions and promote decent work standards in Malawi.
