LDH chairperson Alice Mabota said that the situation is characterised by ill-treatment of workers by employers, physical assault, sexual harassment, racism, and failure to pay contributions deducted from workers' wages to the National Social Security Institute (INSS).
Speaking during a visit by Labour Minister Helena Taipo to the LDH offices on Wednesday, Mabota asked the government to take seriously the work of monitoring implementation of the labour law so that workers can feel that they are an important part of production in the companies and in the country's economy, and not "slaves who are simply producing somebody else's profit".
She expressed concern over the slowness of the trade unions and of the justice system to intervene in "critical" cases, such as torturing workers to make them confess to something in the company, and also the longstanding problem of the persistent theft of workers' social security contributions.
Mabota also complained about labour injustice to many Mozambican workers employed by diplomatic representations in the country, but she did not specify the type of injustices she had in mind.
"The LDH can do nothing because those institutions are protected by diplomatic protocols and cannot be sued, even though they know that they should apply the country's labour law", said Mabota.
A press release from the Labour Ministry said that, in response to Mabota's complaints, Taipo promised that her ministry will strengthen its ties with LDH in matters of labour justice.
She hoped this relationship will develop still further with the creation of the labour dispute arbitration centres, which should start functioning as soon as the amended version of the Labour Law is approved by parliament.
Taipo described the LDH as "a valuable support for the government in promoting social and labour justice".
SOURCE: AIM
