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Railway workers for countrywide strike from today
2008-04-03 08:46:05
By Austin Beyadi
The Tanzania Railway Workers Union (Trawu) yesterday confirmed a planned nation-wide strike by workers of the Tanzania Railway Limited (TRL) to pressurise its management to raise the minimum wage to 160,000/- as provided in the recently signed agreement.
TRAWU and TRL management signed the MoU under which the latter agreed to raise the wage from 100,000 /- to 160,000/- starting last month, and 200,000 in August, this year.
The promise, which came after a tug of war between the two, forced TRL workers to call-off the strike and return to work.
``The management has, however, failed to honour its promise and the MoU, as no pay rise has been effected, contrary to what had been agreed by both sides,`` said the Trawu Secretary General, Sylvester Rwegasira.
He said workers would strike today because the TRL management was reluctant to pay the proposed and agreed 160,000/-minimum wage.
``We have already contacted TRL management who replied that they were not able to pay the workers the proposed amount of money,`` said the trade union official.
Government representatives from the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Youth Development, led by the Minister, Prof Juma Kapuya held closed-door discussions with Trawu officials yesterday in an attempt to find a lasting solution to the labour dispute.
Prof Kapuya was apparently not available for comments, but Trawu chairman Bakari Kiswali told `The Guardian` over the telephone that they were unlikely to reach a conclusion.
He said after hours of discussions, they agreed to adjourn the meeting until today and afterwards Trawu officials would meet the Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda.
TRL Managing Director Narsim Jayaram last month pledged to pay the workers 160,000/- as a starting point before raising the amount further to 200,000 in August.
Early last month, TRL workers issued a 48-hour ultimatum for a nation wide strike, which was criticised by the management as illegal.
Initially, workers through Trawu had proposed a 400,000/- minimum wage, the amount which was rejected during negotiations that involved TRL, government and trade union officials.
The management said the company could hardly pay the amount on the grounds that it was operating at a loss margin. After long government-backed negotiations, workers and TRL management agreed on 160,000/- as minimum wage, an agreement which the latter is still dilly-dallying to implement.
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