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MCTU for wage hike

The Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam) and the MCTU have proposed a 150 percent minimum wage increase to cushion employees from the rising cost of living.

The proposal comes against the background of soaring prices for most basic commodities in the past four months. In some cases, the prices have almost doubled, but salaries and wages have remained constant for the majority of employees.

The worsening economic situation has also seen many companies retrench some of their employees—largely due to acute shortage of forex and raw materials.

Reacting to the situation, the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) and Ecam on T called for a review of the minimum wage.

MCTU secretary general Robert Mkwezalamba said the union has proposed a minimum wage of about K10 000 (about $60), up from about K4 000 (about $24). But he said this could go up should the kwacha be devalued.

Said Mkwezalamba: “We may have to go back to the drawing board after the devaluation. We submitted our proposal to government and we are waiting for a first meeting at a date to be set because it is government that finances the cost of the meeting.”

He said MCTU is aware of the challenges facing the country and that the wage review proposal took longer because they had been tipped about the continued rise in commodities such as sugar; hence, decided to wait.

Ecam deputy executive director Beyani Munthali said the procedure for wage review is that employers and workers submit their proposals after which government calls for a meeting to discuss the matter.

Said Munthali: “We submitted our proposal in November and workers submitted theirs two weeks ago.”

Munthali is on record as having said that companies are suffering as production has stalled, costing the employee hugely. He said some salary increments could mean scaling down for companies; hence, there is need for proper consultation on the dynamics of the labour market.

Ministry of Labour Principal Secretary Wezi Kayira said the meeting delayed because of MCTU’s late submission of its proposal after it failed to comply during the past five months.

Said Kayira: “We are definitely going to have the meeting within this month. I can also confirm that the ministry received both MCTU and Ecam proposals, but it would not be appropriate for me to disclose their proposed figures.”

Meanwhile, Kayira said his ministry does not have actual figures on people retrenched so far.

But companies such as Stansfield Motors Limited have laid off 48 workers; Shayona Cement Corporation has fired 105, Bakhresa has retrenched 45 and 70 employees have been suspended at Health Net Limited due lack of business.

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