South Africa Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana says it is still too early for the International Labour Organision (ILO) to send a contact mission to Zimbabwe.
Minister Mdladlana, who is attending the 91st session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, told a gathering of the 176 member states that he noted with great concern the conclusion reached by the Committee on the Application of Standards.
It decided to send a contact group to Zimbabwe to check on freedom of association concerns, in particular the implementation of arbitration mechanisms in collective bargaining.
Mdladlana’s spokesperson Snuki Zikalala said from Switzerland that the minister was concerned that sending the group — apparently planned to take place in the next three months — was too soon as Zimbabwe had recently amended its labour law.
”The minister said the ILO should be made aware that the presidents of South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi have intervened and made certain that the Zimbabwe government amends the labour law and this has just happened.”
The South African ministry reported that the Zimbabwe Labour and Social Affairs Minister July Moyo had placed on the committee’s records a series of steps which had been taken, including the establishment of a dispute settlement mechanism for collective bargaining.
Mdladlana said in a statement from Geneva: ”We support the view that the committee should have taken note of these legislative changes and allowed a committee of experts to examine these before arriving on the conclusion to prematurely place Zimbabwe in a special paragraph,” said Mdladlana. – I-Net Bridge