ZUFIAW CALLS FOR A UNION INDABA TO DISCUSS THE ROLE OF THE EMOLUMENTS COMMISSION AND THE RELEVANCE OF THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

Friday, 19^th May 2025

The Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) has called on the labour movement in the country to quickly constitute a national indaba to discuss the role and impact of the emoluments commission in the negotiation process in the country. The Union General Secretary, Mr. Kasapo Sundrea Kabende asserted that as a union and bargaining agent for workers in the financial, pension, and insurance sectors, the Union was extremely concerned that the primary mandate of the Labour Movement, which is to protect, defend, and freely negotiate for cost-reflective salaries and conditions of service for represented staff, had been significantly undermined following the enactment of the Emoluments Commission Act No. 1 of 2022 and the operationalization of the Emoluments Commission in January, 2023.

He explained that the Commission had been entrusted with the authority to determine emoluments for unrepresented employees and provide parameters for represented employees in government institutions and organs, however, this development has effectively sidelined the Labour Movement and diminished its role in the process of free collective bargaining. He further noted that the Act contained a supremacy clause that overshadowed other critical legislation guiding collective bargaining, particularly the Memorandum of Recognition Agreement, the Collective Agreement, the Industrial and Labour Relations Act Cap 269 of the Laws of Zambia, and the international instruments such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98, which Zambia had ratified and domesticated.

The General Secretary went on to express concern over the operations of the Emoluments Commission which he stressed had not only rendered unions irrelevant but had also led to the amendment and, in some cases, the abolishment of accrued conditions of service. He observed that long serving employees had been placed on Personal to Holder salaries at the expense of new employees under a Rationalization and Harmonization process that contradict the Emoluments Commission Act No. 1 of 2022, which clearly stated that “the Commission would not engage in negotiations.”

He added that the Commission had undermined legally binding Memorandum of Recognition Agreements, which govern the relationship between employers and unions and set the framework for negotiable items within Collective Agreements. He further listed several challenges that unions had faced since the Commission began operations:

1. Delayed or halted negotiations due to late issuance of bargaining parameters to management.
2. Predetermined outcomes in the bargaining processes, reducing negotiations to mere formalities.
3. Uniform salary increments being awarded across the board, thereby encouraging free riders and let alone making unions irrelevant.
4. Unilateral changes to the duration of approved and registered binding Collective Agreements between employers and unions.
5. Amendments and abolishment of conditions of service, with the added condition that no negotiations could take place unless employees consented to new Conditions of Service following full implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.
6. Placement of union members on Personal to Holder salaries.
7. A complete halt to negotiations for over a year while awaiting full implementation of Rationalization and Harmonization Report recommendations, scheduled to be completed over a one- to three-year period.
8. Delays in issuing parameters and concluding negotiations, which had negatively impacted productivity in many government institutions.
9.  A decline in employee retention within the public sector, as many workers were now seeking employment in the private sector.
10.  A growing inability of government institutions to compete, especially banks, to attract skilled professionals from private sector banks.
11.  An inequitable implementation of the Rationalization and Harmonization process, which had favored management employees while unionized staff were placed on less favorable Personal to Holder terms – contrary to the principles of fairness and equity enshrined in the ECA No. 1 of 2022.
12.  Delays in commencing and concluding negotiations had also led to loss of pension contributions and interest for schemes such as NAPSA and other pension schemes.

Mr. Kabende concluded by challenging the labour movement in the country to reclaim its position as a relevant and effective workers’ representative and that this would be achieved by challenging and correcting the irregularities caused by the Emoluments Commission in the negotiation process. He said that the union had formally written to the mother body (FFTUZ), calling on all unions including those affiliated to ZCTU, to convene a Union Indaba to address the above challenges. He further mentioned that the Indaba will be used as an avenue to push for the amendment of the ECA No. 1 of 2022. He emphasized that the goal was to restore the relevance of the Labour Movement in the Country and to uphold the freedom and integrity of the collective bargaining process. He expressed confidence that such an Indaba would contribute to shaping Zambia’s future of work through home-grown solutions designed to support inclusive economic growth.

Workers First!!

Issues by

Kasapo Sundrea Kabende (Mr.)

GENERAL SECRETARY & CEO