After lengthy and sometimes bitter discussions last year the revised labour law is finally in the hands of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.
On most clauses in the bill consensus between the employers and the unions was achieved - but the unions are still fighting to maintain the favourable redundancy pay terms included in the current legislation.
Employers, however, echoed by the World Bank and the IMF, claim that decent redundancy terms affect their competitiveness, and want to make it much cheaper to sack workers.
Last year, the maximum concession the unions were prepared to make was that, in straightforward cases of dismissal, workers should be entitled to redundancy pay equivalent to 60 days wages for each year of employment - but if the company laid them off for "structural or market reasons", this pay could be cut to 30 days a year.
The employers, however, wanted to cut redundancy pay to 15 days wages for the first year worked and seven days for each subsequent year.
The labour law may well be debated in parliament next week, and it remains to be seen whether the deputies will accept the unions' arguments that redundancy pay rights should not be eroded.
Addressing the marchers, who took two hours to pass the reviewing stand, Amos Matsinhe, the president of the main trade union federation, the OTM, insisted that the new labour law must respect workers' existing rights.
Workers, he said, want "a society of social justice, respect for human rights, participatory democracy, and a better quality of life for all those who, with their labour and knowledge, are contributing to the reconstruction and development of Mozambique".
"We are in favour of decent and secure jobs", declared Matsinhe, "and we want wages that help give workers decent living conditions. We want a stable environment in labour relations".
That, he insisted, meant there had to be dialogue in the workplaces between the employer and the workers, and respect for workers' trade union rights.
The unions, he added, were also demanding an end to mass lay-offs, and to insecure terms of employment. (He was referring to the use of temporary contracts, something which the unions fear is encouraged by the draft labour law, and may lead to employers opting to hire workers for a series short fixed periods, rather than offering them long term contracts.) Matsinhe called for investment in the productive sector that would "create more jobs and generate real development, making the companies more productive and competitive on the domestic, regional and international market".
He warned that economic development and productivity could not be achieved by laying staff off, but only through "modernisation, quality, a strategic vision of areas of investment, and professional training for the work force".
Matsinhe protested that civil servants still do not enjoy trade union rights. The National Civil Service Union was set up five years ago, but is still unable to negotiate on behalf of its members, since the government has not recognised it.
"Once again we demand greater commitment and dynamism from the government in defining norms for the exercise of union rights by civil servants in line with the Constitution", urged Matsinhe.
The union leader also pointed out that the long-awaited Labour Tribunals have still not been established, and as a result there is a backlog of over 12,000 labour disputes pending in the ordinary law courts.
It used to be the case that the President or the Prime Minister would address the May Day march. But last year the current government broke with that tradition. This year the central government was represented at the march by deputy labour minister Soares Nhaca, who did not speak.
Earlier in the day Labour Minister Helena Taipo urged workers to increase their production, arguing that only higher production would guarantee higher wages.
She was speaking after laying a wreath at the Monument to the Mozambican Heroes, where the founder of Frelimo, Eduardo Mondlane, the country's first president, Samora Machel, and others who gave their lives for Mozambique's liberation from colonial rule are buried.
"We should all contribute to greater production", Taipo told reporters. "Wages will only improve when people produce more".
This year, the May Day celebrations were held before any agreement could be reached about the annual increase in the statutory minimum wage.
The matter is under discussion in the Labour Consultative Council (CCT), the tripartite negotiating forum between the government, the unions and the employers' associations. There are two proposals on the table - the unions are demanding a 17 per cent increase in the minimum wage, but the employers refuse to go above 13 per cent.
The current industrial minimum wage is just 1,443 meticais (55.7 US dollars) a month, which the unions say covers only 50 per cent of the most basic needs of a worker and his or her family.
SOURCE: AIM
