Employment councils urged to help drive economic growth

PUBLIC Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo has implored employment councils to partner Government to help drive the country towards economic growth and increase employment levels for the benefit of citizens and shun corruption.

In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Cde Mercy Dinha, during the three-day annual National Employment Council Symposium, which kicked off in Victoria Falls yesterday, Minister Moyo said there is a need for social partners to complement Government efforts to strengthen labour administration.

“I am honoured to address this symposium of councillors and general secretaries of employment councils. The need for social partners to work together cannot be overemphasised hence we look forward to continuing to collaborate as a united body in the various activities that Government and the social partners will undertake to strengthen labour administration,” he said.

“There must be observance of the rule of law and shunning corrupt and greedy tendencies for the sake of development and service delivery.”

The symposium is being held under the theme “Re-Engineering National Employment Councils to Anchor Sustainable Growth and Deliver on Vision 2030.”

Various stakeholders including NECs, the Employment Council of Zimbabwe (EMCOZ), and trade unions are attending the event.

Minister Moyo said the annual symposium is an opportunity to provide updates on developments in Government, including those done with social partners.

“It aims at providing councillors with the capacity to instil and value the importance of good corporate governance and is also expected to capacitate leaders with appropriate skills to drive employment councils to greater heights, and by extension for the ultimate benefit of the entire labour market,” he said.

Minister Moyo said the importance of employment councils operating in compliance with the provisions of the Labour Act and in sync with corporate governance principles as legislated can never be overemphasised.

“To this end, I call on industry leaders here present to continue to work together with Government to make real the anticipated economic growth and increase in employment levels for the benefit of our people,” he said.

Minister Moyo said the Labour Amendment Act number 11, which was promulgated on 14 July, is now in operation, and thanked the Tripartite Negotiating Forum for their input.

“Experiences elsewhere have shown that sound social dialogue with the requisite institutional support will result in Government, employers and workers finding the right balance and being able to agree to policy interventions with sustainable labour market outcomes,” said Minister Moyo.

“In this regard, the Tripartite Negotiating Forum’s Act number 3 of 2019 is now in place and operational with an independent director and secretariat in place.”

Minister Moyo said in an endeavour to facilitate and promote productivity, an institute specialising in productivity would be established.

The Productivity Bill is at the Attorney General’s Office awaiting finalisation of the legal process.

Meanwhile, the interim board has already begun reaching out to stakeholders to create productivity consciousness and some employment councils have already started training in productivity.

“We are thankful to employment councils for your cooperation in this regard. The ministry is also in the process of coming up with a labour market information system which is crucial in the way our labour administration handles information,” said Minister Moyo.

A workshop was held to come up with a master plan including best practices from the Sadc region.

Minister Moyo called on employment councils to adopt specific programmes to promote wellness. He said Government is aware that less than 30 percent of councils have HIV/Aids policies to complement the regulations promulgated in Statutory Instrument 104 of 2014.

“I want to encourage you to have strategies to promote safe and healthy working conditions while promoting general wellness in view of the increasing threats posed by chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes,” he said.