Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
11 November 2008
Hundreds of diamond workers at Diamond Trading Centre (DTC) Botswana will be smiling all the way to the bank with 17percent back pays of the last seven months.
This follows a recent victory by the DTC workers' union when the DTC GM Brian McDonald offered the workers a 17percent wage increment after months of a stalemate over the issue.
A happy DTC Union chairperson, John Motsu last week revealed in an interview that after petitioning the MD recently, McDonald offered the 17 percent which has been well received by the workers.
Since September this year, management of DTC Botswana and the union have been holding out for a 15 percent salary increment which is also spread across transport allowances, shift allowances, and merit allowances but the Union was unhappy arguing that spreading the increment across other benefits is unfair.
"The increment comes into effect at the end of this month. It will be paid from April this year when it was expected to have resumed," Motsu said. Motsu is also happy that DTC management at long last has agreed to pay its security personnel 10 per cent of their monthly salaries as shift allowances.
This ends the monthly P160 allowances paid as shift allowances to the security personnel.
While many will be having a wonderful Christmas thanks to back-pays, Motsu however says their negotiations for suitable rewards continue.
The Union and the management of DTC for instance are yet to resolve how they pay merit allowances, which are paid to star performers at the end of the year.
They are also yet to reach final consensus on how to pay transport and gas allowances, which Motsu says they hope to have reached a common ground by April next year.
Motsu however says McDonald's response to some of the issues they raised in the September petition still has to be revisited. " We are compiling a report which will be sent back to the MD. We might have to see the state president about some of the issues we raised.
For instance, when we complained that workers' hands are being corroded by acidic diamonds, management said we have been given protective clothing. The truth is we do not have protective clothing".
"We are also unhappy with the response to our concern on training and development of citizens in the diamond industry, we believe these are very serious issues but management down-plays them. We might have to see the president," the union chairperson said.
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