Africa-Press – Botswana. Workers have been implored to take centre stage and be the drivers of economic development and see to it that employees’ rights are respected.
The Minister for International Relations encouraged workers not be discouraged because the government had every intention to fulfil its promises to Batswana.
Dr Phenyo Butale was speaking during Labour Day commemoration for Gaborone region, where he said government was mindful of workers’ contribution to change of government.
He said Workers Rights were Human Rights which government placed at the core of the nation’s development agenda.
“As a government we must pave way for a better work environment for the workers. We must agree on a clear way forward therefore union leaders must work with government and craft an environment that is conducive to the workers as drivers of the economy. Let us agree that government will not act and arrive at decisions without engaging workers. Your government is determined and believes that improvement of workers’ rights and work environment is mandatory,” he said.
“If we believe that the Directorate of Public Service Management in its current status does not serve workers’ rights, it must be put in order. We need a DPSM that first and foremost, ensures the desired work environment for workers,” Dr Butale added.
He said government also believed in creating high paying jobs and therefore, any discussions aimed at either improving wages or conditions of service must have a time frame and appropriate action taken with a reasonable time.
Government he said, was aware of the deplorable public servants’ accommodation in Gaborone and across the country hence appropriate action would be taken.
“We have scars of the struggle and shall work with you to drive change,” he said.
Dr Butale said that if the bargaining council remained a platform to advocate for workers’ wages and conditions of service, it must act accordingly and provide urgent feedback to the workers.
He said it was up to the workers to ensure that what they had worked for was realised.
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