Fuz calls for fair labour practices

Thomas Sweswe

AS the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe (FUZ), we would like to applaud the media and Chronicle Sport in particular for such a splendid job in reaching past players that are in dire situations because of work-related injuries as it helps to unearth the hidden challenges in our industry.

It is common cause that an injury sustained on duty should be compensated depending on the degree of the injury.

However, such compensation comes through religiously following the laws in place which bind parties in their endeavour to mitigate the same.

It is a fact that as a union we have a role to protect the interests of our members, but we are bound by the law as well.

In such sad scenarios as that of Hlanganani Ngwenya and Sisa Moyo, it’s disheartening to note that they were somehow neglected and the club failed them.

Before we place the blame squarely on the club, let’s be guided by Fifa Statutes and the Labour Act and see whether or not a player procedurally played a part to get the required attention.

Article 25 of the Fifa Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players section(5) The Players’ Status Committee, the Dispute Resolution Chamber, provides that “the single judge or the DRC judge (as the case may be) shall not hear any case subject to these regulations if more than two years have elapsed since the event giving rise to the dispute”. Application of this time limit shall be examined ex-officio in each individual case.

Section (6) also persuades the same that the “Players’ Status Committee, the Dispute Resolution Chamber, the single judge or the DRC judge (as the case may be) shall, when taking their decisions, apply these regulations whilst taking into account all relevant arrangements, laws and/or collective bargaining agreements that exist at national level, as well as the specificity of sport”.

Locally, we have a similar piece of legislation embedded in our Labour Act Chapter 28:01.

In terms of section 94 (prescription of disputes), both cases are now way out of time. Section (1) as read with subsection 2 reads…“no labour officer shall entertain any dispute or unfair labour practice unless: a) it is referred to him or b) has otherwise come to his attention within two years from the date when the dispute or unfair labour practice first arose”.

It further says in subsection 3(a) that the acts or omissions forming the subject of the dispute of unfair labour practice first occurred or (b) the party wishing to refer the dispute or unfair labour practice to the labour officer FIRST became AWARE of the Acts or omissions referred to in paragraph (a), if such party cannot reasonably be expected to have known of such acts or omissions at the date when they first occurred.

With this piece of legislation in place, we found ourselves incapacitated to help in any way except engaging the employer on humanitarian grounds if they can assist in any possible way. We are at the employer’s mercy in this regard.

However, going forward, we urge all players to be members of the union first and secondly to quickly engage us for legal advice before it’s too late. The world over, the most famous ones Messi and Ronaldo included are members of their unions and are bound by such membership in such circumstances where a misfortune may or may not happen. We are glad that our laws are flexible and as workers we need to feast on those green legal tools that favour us.

There is section 13 of the Labour Act which provides recourse to employees whose contracts have been terminated , resigns or …13(c) incapacitated from preforming his work or… as the case maybe, the injured person may claim compensation from the National Social Security Authority (NSSA).

Soon after acquisition of the medical record prescribing the degree of the injury, the employer is mandated by this Act to fill in the form, sign and stamp it.

The injured person must swiftly take it to NSSA and register for compensation going forward.

We, therefore, at this juncture urge our members to fully utilise our programmes which capacitate them on various contractual tenets such as their rights and free financial prudence courses that we provide to mitigate such unforeseeable cases. Furthermore we also have a pension scheme running under the umbrella of the Sports Industry Pension Fund.

We are grateful that we have a Standard Contract signed and agreed by other key football principals (Zifa and PSL) which covers major issues on players’ welfare, although it’s not exhaustive.

Article 6 (c) of the Standard Players Contract (rights and obligations of the club) item states that the club shall provide the player with adequate medical care during the period of employment relationship and extend to international matches and insurance must be in place to validate the contract.

A Health and Safety Policy must also be available for players to understand the dos and don’ts when executing the contract.
Article 7 (Injuries and Illness) includes the immediate role of a player in formalising his sickness status with the club and seek third opinion and medical tests which will bind both parties.

This will NOT constitute a Just Cause for the premature termination of the contract by both parties unless it’s mutually agreed.
The Standard Players Contract, the Fifa Players Statutes and the Labour Act are on point in protection of workers that are injured at work.
We will continue to engage our partners to explore future best practices to combat issues of unfair labour practice. A plan and programme for Legends in Dire Need should be mooted and constructed to see how best they can be assisted post football career with or without injury.
We also urge clubs to take insurance to protect themselves in such cases of national crisis to cover wages and operational costs in such dire situations. — Sweswe is FUZ secretary-general