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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has urged employers to think beyond payment of wages by taking into consideration the welfare of workers and public health in the way businesses are organised.

The President also said Government is committed to formulating policies that will see workers earning salaries that can sustain them and their families.

President Mnangagwa said Covid-19 has disrupted lives, threatened job security for most workers on a scale that has not been seen before as countries are forced to impose measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

He said Government has taken painful but necessary measures to protect citizens against the spread of Covid-19 that is causing havoc globally.

President Mnangagwa said this in a speech to mark Workers’ Day that is commemorated on May 1 annually.

He said employers need to have a paradigm shift in terms of addressing workers’ concerns.

The President said every employer, in whatever sector of the economy, should think beyond the weekly or monthly wage because of Covid-19 and the sheer instability of the economy in the foreseeable future.

“First, we must ensure our workplaces meet WHO public health standards. No sector or sub-sector must be exempt from this requirement which must be enforced both in the interest of workers, and that of greater society. Going forward, public health yardstick will be foremost in the way we organise our business, all business premises and work stations. Second, we must ensure proper personal protection equipment and facilities at all workstations. Again, this must be in line with WHO standards which our health inspectors must enforce vigorously. The health inspector shall be a key persona in industrial relations, and at all places of work which must be re-purposed towards public health exigencies and goals,” he said.

“Every employer, in whatever sector of our economy, must and should think beyond the weekly or monthly wage. Over the years, we have realised how easily erodible wages are, especially in times of economic shocks, destabilisations and instability. Now we have this new, dreadful factor of a global viral pandemic.

Clearly, the years ahead show all these as the conditioning norm for global businesses, in which case we are best advised to cushion the worker through a more resilient, shock-proof system of reward and resilience. The bottom-line is that the worker must have food, shelter, and must be able to afford health services, while being able to send his/her children to school. This, dear compatriots, must be the new thrust and ethic for us all, whatever sector we play in.”

President Mnangagwa said while Government has faced challenges in meeting some of the workers’ demands, it continues to prioritise matters to do with their welfare.

“That, too, means at the heart of national policy must be the sustenance of this key cog in the social production of life itself, namely the worker. The worker must be able to reproduce his and her life so he continues to work for humanity. That means giving him a living wage, one by which he can sustain himself and his family. This has to be the primary goal of any government, including our own. True, we often come short of this key goal, but the commitment to support and sustain the worker should and must always be there,” said President Mnangagwa.

He said the country’s economy will not be spared from the global impact of Covid-19 with the situation being exacerbated by successive droughts and the punitive illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by western countries.

President Mnangagwa said Government was also looking at ways of supporting the informal sector which supports most livelihoods in the country.

“While the global focus may be on workers in formal employment, our own peculiar economic circumstances require that we place greater focus on small-to-medium enterprises, and on the broad informal sector.

“These subsectors have sustained the greater number of national livelihoods as our nation battles myriad adversities, whether natural or man-made,” President Mnangagwa.

“This means our programmes aimed at defending and sustaining worker welfare must put these two subsectors at the heart of our policies. Already, Government has decided to include special, well-tailored packages for SMEs and the informal sector in its overall Post-Covid-19 Stimulus Recovery Measures which I shall announce shortly.”

He said Covid-19 has become a wakeup call for the country to re-organise informal markets so that they become public health-compliant. — @nqotshili