The National Energy Sector and Allied Workers Union (NESAWU)Â has accused the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) of committing a serious breach of industrial agreement by failing to provide its employees with protective clothing.
Union officials in Northern Province say it is an offence for an employer to allowworkers to take risks by refusing to consider their safety and allow them to operate
in risky areas without protective wear.
Zesco workers in Kasama yesterday said they had not been receiving protective
clothing for over two years and accused their company of deliberately exposing them
to danger.
A union leader who preferred to remain anonymous also said some deaths in the power
company were as a result of workers being exposed to danger by management which had
not been providing protective wear to its employees.
The workers told ZANIS in Kasama that protective clothing was a condition of service
which their company was aware of and which they said was being deliberately ignored
thereby exposing them to dangerous situations.
They said while their colleagues in other provinces had continued to receive the
protective clothes, workers in the Northern Region had been ignored for some years
now prompting most of them to seek alternative clothing which was not recommended
adding that in the event of workers dying in circumstances that could have been
avoided, Zesco management would be held responsible.
The workers accused management of lack of responsibility and appealed to Managing
Director Rodney Sisala to immediately intervene and reverse the situation.
They also accused management of treating them differently from their colleagues in
other regions.
ZANIS
