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Labour Matters, Davies Ndumiso Sibanda
WHILE the Labour Zero Bill is a working document, there is a likelihood of it becoming an authoritative guide in the Amendment of the Labour Act given the fact that it is much more than a Zero Bill but a working document commissioned by the Government in partnership with international organisations.

While I highlighted the need for wider consultations, stakeholders that are affected by the Bill should take the initiative and make their views and contributions known to Government and its partners.  If the TNF would like to push the Zero Bill into a Bill before Parliament, there is a need to engage parliamentarians over the contentious part of the Bill.

The extinguishing of NECs and substituting them with boards is likely to be a huge step backwards in the regulation of the labour relations environment given the magnitude existing NEC structures and dispute resolution mechanisms. The involvement of the Labour Court in labour matters as proposed by the Zero Bill is likely to further erode the integrity the Labour Court and reduce it to the level of labour officers more-so with the proposal that the arbitration process be largely done away with.

Retrenchment processes provisions in the Zero Bill are not very different from what is already happening and maybe on a positive note it emphasises the need for consultation. However, the process of going through the Labour Court and Supreme Court is not user friendly for poor workers with limited financial resources and struggling employers as the cost is beyond their reach.

I will be shocked if the unions go with the Zero Bill as it is generally harsh on the workers in terms of legal processes that the workers have to satisfy in search of justice. I can see very few workers litigating given the fact that the scope of representation by unions is narrowed and representation by labour consultants is barred and only legal practitioners have unlimited rights to represent parties.

The introduction of a maternity scheme is not fully explained and there is a likelihood of creating a financial burden to employers and workers thus increasing the cost of doing business. Basically in my opinion, the creation of such a scheme is a massive project which could easily be similar to NSSA, a thing that requires full engagement before implementation as our underperforming economy has no capacity to carry the cost neither through levies nor through government contributions.

Workers’ committee negotiated collective bargaining agreements are being given prominence without the necessary safeguards to protect workers from cohesion to sign their rights away by some unscrupulous employers, this clearly shows that the Zero Bill is insensitive to what happens on the ground.

In conclusion, there is a need to do more than engagement but for all stakeholders to fully comprehend the spirit and the reasoning of government and ILO as they came up with the Zero Bill so as to objectively add value, it is my hope that Members of Parliament will this time avoid rushing the Bill so as to produce a quality document.

Davies Ndumiso Sibanda can be contacted on: email: [email protected] Or cell No: 0772 375 235