MINISTER of Labour and Social Security Austin Liato says it is immoral for Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata to try to politicise the go-slow by Lusaka-based Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) workers.
And the ZRA management has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any worker who fails to immediately report for work.
Mr Liato said in an interview yesterday that it is unnecessary for Mr Sata to address ZRA workers who are picketing over industrial differences when he is a mere politician.
He said Mr Sata should confine himself to political issues instead of the ZRA workers’ matter, which is essentially industrial.
Mr Liato reminded Mr Sata that the matter at hand is industrial, and there are laid down procedures to follow in any dispute.
The minister warned the PF leader from interfering in such matters, saying he is not a jack-of-all-trades.
Mr Liato urged all the striking workers to return to work immediately as the go-slow is illegal.
He warned that any unionised worker of ZRA who decides to work with Mr Sata will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
Mr Liato said although he has not yet received an official report on the go-slow, his office will be proactive and follow the matter with interest to restore order at Revenue House.
Mr Sata took advantage of picketing ZRA unionised workes and rushed to their offices where he addressed them, promising that he will prevail over authorities concerning their grievances.
“Let’s be serious with national affairs. Since when has Mr Sata’s office been resolving labour disputes? He must learn to differentiate between political and industrial issues,” Mr Liato said.
Mr Sata arrived at Revenue House after 11:00 hours and urged the workers to go back to work.
He told union officials to petition management and meet him today at his Farmer’s House office so that he can help them on the way forward.
He told the workers who had gathered around him that they risked being victimised if they continued to stay away from work and could end up losing their jobs.
[pullquote]“Let’s be serious with national affairs. Since when has Mr Sata’s office been resolving labour disputes? He must learn to differentiate between political and industrial issues,” Mr Liato said.[/pullquote]
But union acting general secretary Shadreck Kalunga told Mr Sata that his presence will raise suspicion.
Mr Sata, however, told Mr Kalunga that the whole situation was already political, and urged the union to meet him today, saying he will help them to hire lawyers.
However, as soon as Mr Sata left, Mr Kalunga told the workers that the go-slow was an internal matter and there is no need to involve other people, especially politicians.
“We are glad that Mr Sata has come to visit us, but that is as far as it goes. This is an internal matter, and we are not going to involve anyone other than management,” he said.
And ZRA management has warned that disciplinary action will be taken against any worker who fails to report for work immediately.
ZRA director of research and planning Samuel Bwalya said in a statement yesterday that that the go-slow is unlawful and contravenes the existing collective agreement and negotiation procedures.
“In this regard, all employees are expected to report for work and perform their duties normally. For those who do not oblige, disciplinary action will be taken against them in accordance with ZRA grievances and disciplinary procedure code and the existing recognition agreement,” Dr Bwalya said.
He advised members of the public and all stakeholders that the ZRA offices will be open and operational.
But the workers have vowed not to return to work until their demands are met.
Mr Kalunga said yesterday that unionised workers have rejected the eight percent increment to their salary and housing allowance.
He said the decision to down tools was made after the union rejected the increment management was offering.
The workers, among other things, are also demanding long service bonuses for those who have served over 10 years to be reviewed.
“These negotiations began in January this year, and have not yet been concluded because management does not want to move from the eight percent that they have offered us. We are going to continue with the go-slow until management hears our plight, “ Mr Kalunga said.
A check at Revenue House opposite Kabwe round-about found offices deserted, with most clients being turned back at the gate by security guards.
Most of the workers were found idling or reading newspapers, while some union officials were going round offices to check whether there were some unionised workers that were still in their offices
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Lusaka Times, this is old data. Bring news. Where are you based kanshi? Are you an MMD wing? Are you controlled by William Banda the mafia and thug? Awee, this is really boring
Ba Minister ichilufumo ubukulu……akabwamba ubunono …..leave mikaeli Sata alone u fool
Pressure!! Pressure!! Maybe FTJ can help MMD resolve this one since he is a Consultant!!
Kwasha, LT was bought by MMD at K200 million two months ago. The editor now is Senior Citizen also called Veteran. What was agreed during the sale was that no news that portray Rupiah Banda in the negative. Its a shame really isn’t it?
Come 2011 those tummies will be gone!!!
Bushe batata aba bali nefumo?
what do you expect from a bootlicker like liato.This Hippo cannot defend anyone after he was ashered in offce as minister.Shame he belong to Kariba Dam
One expects an issue of this nature to be level-headedly discussed. But when we start insulting, then we have missed the point. Can somebody explain to me why most, if not ALL insults are in Bemba????
“However, as soon as Mr Sata left, Mr Kalunga told the workers that the go-slow was an internal matter and there is no need to involve other people, especially politicians.
“We are glad that Mr Sata has come to visit us, but that is as far as it goes. This is an internal matter, and we are not going to involve anyone other than management,” he said.”
Well done, Mr Shadreck Kalunga, union Acting General Secretary Shadreck Kalunga. That is maturity. Sata simply wants to use you to gain political mileage. Since when did Sata find time and civility to sit with GRZ and discuss issues of national interest? Where does he fit in the Industrial Relations Act and Procedures? Sit with GRZ no he won’t, sit with his sponsors Post yes he will.
Scared little men of MMD. Issuing threats all the time instead of resolving issues. Enjoy while it lasts
eh! imwe kwali rap battle?! i take it liato aliwina, mmm chila moneka kwati chali kwati ama flowz bane. dudu ch du du deueeeeeces:)>-
i can see liato na joina group yavena GBM (Gigantic belly man). if GBM is looking for those lost five 50 kg bags of roller meal, look no further, liato is now a cylone ema storage, no need for dunavant, deuces bane:)>-
Bemba is universal. Insults are more effective if they are said in bemba. in fact, the impact is felt better when one insults in bemba.
iwe ka numbala 3, i am having you tonight mune. deuces:)>-
If us civil servants from the councils and the like got 15% why not also give zra the same or give them k1m across the board like NAPSA. What is 8% of k2m isn’t it just k160,000, (before tax) that means just 1 bag of mealie meal and a few packets of boom. Anyway its shameful pliz help the brethren survive this tough times do not be heartless like Juda Escariot, do not kill innocent souls
#9 Katie Good- That is the name of politics. Take every opportunity. Liato is afraid of losing his Polical Utopia otherwise he would not have bothered to talk about one MCS.
# 8: Was actually about to ask the same thing about # 2’s post, maybe insults sound more like insults when said in bemba……. It was very unnecessary for H.E Mr. Michael Sata to have gone there, who does he think he is? ZRA management spokesperson?
#13 Does it mean that we need to tell people not to learn Bemba so as to rid this site of insulting bloggers? having lived among westerners, i tend to understand why Lozis detest manners of people from certain areas. They can be highly contagious.
# 8. Its because there are no insults in other local languages! By the way, come 2011 MMD will pounce back into power because of it’s good leadership.
18
Some Bambas want to show it all ….so they want to be noticed and sometimes unfortunetly people even insult. I was by PACK station in Jozi and my brother pointed and told me those guys are from Zed….we didnt know them but when we went close it was all bemba and on top of their voices….i wont blame them could be someting inherited….learn thier history.
But to the subject at hand MC SATA is trying by all means to survive let him do so………10 yrs from now we shall be free of politics ya ba KOTE!
#18, Can you explain please?
#20, Its not all BEMBAs who speak the Bemba. I am sure you saw a group of men speaking bemba and assume they Benba, could have a mixture tribe but who all speak bemba,
Where is Jozi btw?
#19
Assistant MMD Chief Bootleaker: Pounce or bounce?
Liato be Careful, you talk too much about Cycle Mata u end up ukulufyanya ask Lameck Mangani.
Senior Citizen, Mr Capitalist, Katie Good, MMD Chief Bootleaker are you aware that yo so called Good Government headed by one RB up to 2day has not yet paid some civil servants their April Salaries.
mK are you a disgruntled MMD Bootlicker trying to defend a non functioning Minister/What?.The Problem withyou Kaponyas is that you have no reference.Since this Hippo became Minister, Labour Office has lost its functionality.Even when pipo cry for their plight all he thinks of is his tummy.From your expression you are a Lozi i guess and so I am and I call a spade a spade!
RB is a good listener. I am sure he will do something. By the way let us not pile all the blame on RB just to pave way for PACT. RB has done quite a lot to this nation. He deserves another term at plot 1. What do you think …?
#18 MK. why are insults in Bemba?
To briefly explain to you why zambians( especially non Bembas) insult in bemba its because Bemba is a semi official language in Zambia. When you insult in bemba it carries weight coz every person will get the meaning. Its like english….the almost world language , people insult in english even here in sweden. They know that its a language which every person will understand. Imagine insulting in a language which no one understands, it will mean nothing. Infact the majority of those who insult in Bemba are non Bembas….just cary out a survey on LT, you will find that my assertion is tue.:)>-:)>-
MK…
I forgot , you seem to be a hater of the Bembas. From your language one can tell. Please Bembas are nice people who are really out going. They can live any where in this world. They can marry any tribe any where…the best example is the SDA church where the Bemba-guys have married many Tonga-girls and are all living in love and harmony. Now I think they are going after the Lozis. So start embracing them other wise you find yourself having a Bemba brother in law.;);)
@ number 20 what was the problem excatly that they were speaking on top of their voices or beacuse the spoke bemba? blame them for what excatly? if those peolple felt proud and confident to express themselves in a local language whilst in a foreign country! then good for them. if that is what they inhertited, good bless their parents. i am tired of people expressing their streotypes about ichi bemba in this day and age. if someone insults on this blog in English why don’t you cry out and say he has learnt bad mannerisms from English people. if you speak a certain language it doesn’t make you behave a certain way!!!
bemba is here stay! if you don’t like it then kafwile uko!! Atase!!
#28. Except in indian shops
# 30
Do you know why you cant find a Bemba in indian shops? Ask the eldely people who were there before indepence. Bembas during colonial time refused to work as kaboyis for the basungus and indians. If they were to work for them it was to teach them a lesson that it was not there money but for Zambians. So the indians have that hatred for the Bembas……but they liked the e#### who agreed to call them bwana. Not the Bembas.
sata is able to squeeze any opportunity industrial or not for every drop of political mileage out of it.e strategy tulandapo iyi.nabu consultant on politics he qualifies notwithstanding the fact that he aint a degree in politics or political science but thank God his body temperature is 37 degree(s).liato, sata needs to understand and get acquianted with many issues the zra one is just one of them
lufumo nangu lifumo???????????????????????????//:((
Goodu milile – Massive and Mammoth Dimensions (MMD)! These guys need Oprah! they have some unresolved issues or an eating disorder.
Capitol Hill,
you are either ignorant or dull.Everyone knows that Bemba insults are too cheap and so common that their effect has reduced to almost zero.I guess you know nothing about other zambian languages.
Liato looks like he eats at two chickens per meal. Let him shed of that tummy which makes him look like an oil tanker standing up !
He is the opposite of GK but both are likely to collapse ! LOL ! LOL ..,
Liato has always been like that from the time i knew him at Zesco. The guy has always been super big, just like GBM and Kenny Ngondo.
Liato aba ITOLE, chikala cha wishi! This chap cannot sort out ZRA woes together with his Big UMWENFU VEEP to be.
Anyway, the only way forward is for ZRA workers to join any viable labour Union and not ZRAWU.
ZRA workers in their current status are damn broke and just survive on bribes. Gone are the days when they were kept well and had money
#36 you made me laugh.#28 I don’t hate bembas. Ironically i have more bemba friends. Remember i was NOT emphasising the people but the language. As others have rightly put it, you dont have to be Bemba to speak Bemba. So let us analyse things critically.
#25 i am not an MMD bootlicker neither am i a Lozi. But i love the guts of Lozis. They refuse to submit to others simply because they are a people proud of their language which in most cases has been mistaken to be tribalism.
there are isolated cases like the one i experieced the first time i visited Mongu. I was in a queue trying to buy bread. As i reached the counter i asked for bread but the sales lady just stood without attending to me and saying a word not until my brother came to my rescue and said Sinkwa!
Liato you are dull, politics is a game so when you see an opportunity you have to score. this is the 2nd day since strike started and you are saying you dont know the situation at the moment. what kind of a labour mister are you. Zambia’s income depends on ZRA and there tools are down but you are making noise about Sata. this shows that some of you ministers don’t know your duties. do you think if Sata was president Liato would be spared? the guy has just score while you are watching. you should have been one of the first to assure these works that you are looking into it and management will find the solution soon then urge them to get back to work. but dull as you are, you went after sata. the guy is just too much for some of you by the way get time to go to gym to cut off your…
There he goes talking about Sata instead of telling the nation WHAT the way forward is. We know who Sata is, what are you doing about the plight of people who ensure people pay tax? Disappointing to say the least. Stricking ZRA workers have been spoken to by many people who are more intelligent than Sata whom you are unknowingly making very popular. If he spoke to then so what? Just resolve the issue of perks, period!
Iam sure mr Sata would fit well to be President without Portfolio.He is too fast to react to national issues without thinking and consulting his colleagues.I can assure you that his first three months in office there will be drama in his GRZ. My advise to the pact is, find mr Sata an image builder immediately to prevent Zambia to be a laughing stock in he came in power by chance.industrial matters are a trick matter where the country”s economy is still on the knife ege.ask THE DJ president of Madagascar. He have realized that politics of appeasement does not work. The coffers are empty and he says he can no longer stand it. Let us encourage expansion of the economy first before we start eating the same eggs that that should hatch into more jobs.
For the guys that were speaking Bemba in Johannesburg, i say keep it up. We should not be cowed into submission. Let’s speak our languages freely.
Katie Good ### 9
Sata simply wants to use you to gain political mileage<<<<<< Are you sure?
You are day dreamer. Can Sata try to gain political mileage in Lusaka Town and and other Urban AREAS? Not at all may in your own village. Sata is well supported in urban areas. Dont you think so
Hahahahahahaaaaaqa
#18 Wila bepa umufi. Uli bena Nyenisha. Ati, “having lived among Westerners…” Come out in the open. Umwenso nifwa!!
@Ichamba Thanks for the information. I thought he was about to burst !
I’ll invite him for a Japanese wrestling bout.
#45 Destroyer.. am telling you the truth. I am not a Lozi but i have lived with them abeit not longer than i have lived on the copperbelt (Nkana Kitwe)
Another completely useless minister full of nothing but air. How many a’s”SS’es do you have to lick to realize you are demaning yourself?
Okay, to all those who would rather be insulted in another language other than bemba, I will oblige you. From now on, you are all ba Fi colour instead of dick@heads! I hope I have made you happy. How s.T.Up.id do some people have to be to get it that it is not the language you are insulted in, but the insult itself?
A real Bemba actually never insults anyone. How do I know this? When was the last time you heard this phrase “nshi kutukile mune, ayo yonse mapalo” Meaning, “I have not insulted you, my friend, what I have just said are blessings”.
That’s how they get away with murder :d/
Kwena, ama ministers aya eeh. A big mid-riff is not good for the heart, and I just heard that being large in the middle like that can cause early dementia – yep, we are back to talking about health in the political arena.
Mr MC SATA President of Zambia 2011 has been called for the G 20 and his going deliberate for Afriac……………..Ifi fi China…..can Bush send his troops o……i mean OBAMA….na ngu uyu mwaiche ni CAMELIOEN???? ati ni na ni? i mean there too many in Zambia we need to fire them not like Banda fires eliminate plz………….
What a joke….
Mr Liato , i dont know these guys , they actually think getting that big is fashionable …….let them watch least the end up in hospital.
Those are my fellow Bembas, we are very smart though we do not perform to expectations.
In our Bemba language we do not insult, we just bless people with words of insults while smilling. Anyway, thats the easiest language to make an insult and someone will still be laughing. Just baer with us guys.
Liato take it easy life in politics changes, dont threat your fellow citizens because one day the same people you shall ask favor from them. Sata is a next president mind you bootlickering minister.
Iwe ka katie good
what about FTJ is he not overstepping his bounderies, Sata’s move is even more logical going by his words, we can say even if he does not have the mandate, still his presence makes Liato work faster and keeps him figuring what to do for the workers. Keep it up cobra. bachepa sana.
#16, I have no problem with that. I am simply advising the union leader not to be abused by this politician. According to, in your own words, Sata is taking advantage of this opportunity not to support the union but for his own selfish ends.
#57, you can also advise those Liverpool guys not to be abused by Chiluba, but my understanding is that they invited Chiluba to their conference, whereas at ZRA Sata was uninvited and he was politely told to mind his own business. Actually I am amused at that, Sata to be told off, until recently that was unthinkable!
#44 See my comment at #59, that should tell you something about Sata’s increasing popularity!
Katie Good….dont b worried with PF cadres to them every election SATA has to win . They dont analyse the current political climate all they think about is SATA a lunatic being voted into State house. What popularity are they talking about. SATA and his PF have just lost an election in Milanzi if he was popular he could have done better and won. Right now we have UPND which has clobbered MMD in two seats in the north western province….seats which MMD had wo over in 2006 …this is progress. Right now Milupi is streering confusion on the electorate…and so we also have a choice in voting for Chipimo Jr so who is this MC SATA and really i dont see it. Time and again weve told them if MC Sata stands for Presidency HH will also do and dont be cheated HH might actually surpass SATA in vote
Let me ask my PF friends when SATA loses again in 2011 what are u going to do. It seems u are men and women who have fixed our eyes on SATA came rain came snow!!!!!!! i guess some will collapse…And to u SATA will put bread on ur plate wooow…i wish i could see that i Mr SATA….But i cant plz help try to see what u see in him.
Number 8 (MK): Many want to insult in people because they feel they express themselves better that way. When I was at UNZA (in the RUINS, RUPO) years ago I saw ‘freshers’ come from other provinces and as soon as they started speaking Ichibemba they became lumpens. How do you explain that?
“He warned that any unionised worker of ZRA who decides to work with Mr Sata will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”
Is there a law against working with Mr Sata?
dogma998
Zo ona you are a dog. Say something else. How do you compare SATA who won in 4 provinces out of 9 and HH who had MPs from one province . I am very sorry mr Dog. Atleast RB won in 4 province
someone finds people speaking bemba in jozi and he/she has a problem.zambia is cursed to say the least that is why you find people like liato being ministers.
H.E Mr M. Sata should also visit Hon. Liato for Hi**/AID* test, it will help Hon. Liato a lot. God Bless. Zambia.
ba ina bantu.ndalama zatu
Liato you have nothing to offer. Opposition leaders have the right to have a say in any issues affecting working families. Just concentrate on maintenance of your belly.
Te nsele, malumbo….!