The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
7 July 2009
editorial
THE stance taken by the Government to withhold salaries for health workers who went on strike last month should serve as a warning to employees who are making it a habit to down tools even before negotiations are concluded.
In the case of nurses and other health workers, their strike was absolutely uncalled-for, as their union leaders and the Government had successfully concluded the talks settling for a 15 per cent salary increment.
President Rupiah Banda has been magnanimous enough to pardon them, but they must bear the consequences of withdrawing labour for at least three weeks.
The workers must be grateful for the presidential pardon because going on an illegal strike is a dismissible offence.
Employees must know that they are paid at the end of the month for the hours they have clocked in.
In the case of the health workers, they should prove that they indeed put in the stipulated eight hours under the labour laws to warrant receiving a salary for that month.
Chief Government spokesman Ronnie Shikapwasha has maintained that getting a salary without working for it is abrogating the labour laws.
The union leaders know this and should be in the forefront explaining to their members the consequences of their actions.
We do know for a fact that for at least 21 days, the workers adamantly stayed away from work and the effects of their action were felt and are there to be seen.
Innocent lives were lost during that period while patients were turned away without being attended to.
Some patients were even prematurely discharged before they could finish their course of medication.
It is surprising that after all these inconveniences, health workers must demand a full salary as though their action was normal.
Precedents must be set and this is a time for the Government to put it on record that if workers go on an illegal strike, they must forfeit their pay for that period.
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