Chinese firm complies with the employees’ demands, increase salaries
The workers outside the company premises. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa
What you need to know:
- The angry workers who staged a demonstration at the company premises claim that their employers have not paid them for 3months.
- This is their 3rd strike within less than 4months but their concerns have not been attended to.
The China Railways Seventh Group (CRSG), the company contracted by Kampala Capital City Authority to rehabilitate road junctions in the city has resolved employee’s complaints after the Tuesday sit down strike.
During an eight hours heated meeting amidst security deployment at the company’s headquarters in Kyebando-Kawempe Division in Kampala, the Commissioner for Labour in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development Patrick Okello, explained after the meeting that the Chinese firm agreed to increase salaries of different sections of workers.
“Some of the workers who have been earning Shs400,000 are now going to start earning Shs600,000 per month,”MrOkello said.
He said that all workers are going to be paid through the bank and should be entitled to a day off.
“We agreed that workers will be working from Monday to Saturday from 8am to 5pm, beyond that, workers will be given an extra pay for working for over time and a double for Sundays and public holidays, ”Mr Okello added.
Over 400 Ugandan workers at a Chinese-owned construction company went on strike protesting alleged sexual harassment by managers and poor pay, mistreatment, long working hours and supervisors harassing employees.
“We have jointly agreed with the company to increase the salaries and many other complaints that we are still investigating. We have discovered that some information was misguiding and many area politicians influenced the strike,” said Mr Okello.
He added that all employees who got occupational hazards will be re-assessed through KCCA’s Medical Arbitration Board and the victimised culprits will be sorted out after reaching a certain agreement.
He also noted that the issue of sexual harassment is under investigations vowing to hold culprits accountable if found guilty.
Among other resolutions which were reached include providing safe protection gears to workers, suspend the signing of the new contract which provoked the strike.
Meanwhile, Cui Yun, the Acting Director at CRSG says the company is going to resolve these issues amicably.
However, employees and the mayor of Kawempe Emmanuel Serujonji insist that the human resource manager should resign on grounds that he has been mistreating them.
