The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga, Senior Business Reporter
SALARY negotiations in the tourism sector are expected to be explosive with workers pushing for an 80 percent increase while employers are proposing a salary cut.
The negotiations for salaries and terms of conditions for workers for this year which were slated for last week were postponed to March by the National Employment Council.
In an interview National Museums Monuments Travel and Tourism Gameparks and Wildlife Workers Union of Zimbabwe acting secretary-general Mr Christopher Shoriwa said the workers were advocating for a salary increase across the board based on the industry’s contribution to the economy.
He said of the industry’s three sectors namely 1, 1b and 2, two sectors 1b and 2 were most affected.
“In past periods of negotiations those in the conservancies have suffered blows with their minimum wages pegged at those in the agriculture sector where they were once registered. We want to ensure a change in that and we propose an 80 percent increment which will see the lowest paid getting at least $360 per month,” said Mr Shoriwa.
He said the workers were not ready to accept anything less that 80 percent as the tourism sector was one of the main anchors of the economy.
He said the sector was also performing above board hence employers had no reason not to remunerate their workers.
“We are facing challenges with employers who are closing businesses with no justification especially those in Victoria Falls and our main concern is that they are not even following proper termination of employment procedures,” said Mr Shoriwa.
He called on all the workers to rally behind the union in a bid to uphold fair labour standards in the tourism sector.
However, Employers Association for Tourism and Safari Operators president Mr Clement Mukwasi revealed that in fact employers were pushing for a downward review of basic salaries.
“We don’t want anyone to be fired or for companies to retrench any worker thus we are negotiating for a salary cut because business has been depressed and revenue is low. We want to balance the scale between keeping jobs and operations of businesses,” said Mr Mukwasi.
He said negotiations between the workers’ representatives and employers were expected to be emotionally charged as people did not generally want salary cuts yet on the other hand the employers are defending their position.
He said they did not expect it to be an easy negotiation but added that both parties would go into the meeting with open minds.
“It is unlikely the meeting will be concluded within a day as we are at opposite ends and each party will want to defend its position,” said Mr Mukwasi adding that housing and transport allowances would also be relooked at. Mr Mukwasi reiterated Mr Shoriwa’s sentiments that negotiations should be done in good faith.
