Rantšo refuses to leave office

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Rantšo refuses to leave office
Rantšo refuses to leave office

Africa-Press – Lesotho. The tension that has been raging for years now between the Minister of Labour and Employment Hon. Keketso Rantšo and the workers unions, seems far from over with the former firmly refusing to evacuate the office as demanded by the unions.

After issuing a firm statement a week ago, where the unions expressed disappointment in the Prime Minister (PM) Dr. Moeketsi Majoro by reappointing Rantšo as the Minister of Labour and Employment once more.

The unions have vowed to strong-arm the government to address their concerns. They have launched a strike intended to commence this coming Friday as they plan to issue a petition to Majoro.

Noted concerns include what they say is a “blockage” of M800 relive for factory workers by Majoro’s government. Former PM Dr. Motsoahae Thomas Thabane had promised that as part of relief measures from the effects of lockdown, all factory workers would receive M800 each month for a period of 3 months.

However, with the lockdown now over and workers having got back to work, the new government has announced to shift relief to other similarly affected sectors like hospitality where some workers remain jobless and some facilities haven’t reopened as yet.

The factory workers were paid only once and that was for the month of April. The unions also want the PM to get rid of Rantšo citing that she has already failed dismally in the past two terms she has led the ministry.

They state that in her leadership, “absolutely nothing positive has come for the country’s labour,” mentioning the failure to establish the long pursued law that allows women in the private sector, especially factories and security companies, to be awarded a fully paid 6 months maternity leave.

Another issue is of the poor services of the labour counters and failure to increase salaries of their clients. The statement says that Rantšo has recently rejected a 7% offer that was given by employees, trimming it down to 5%.

Meanwhile, Rantšo pulled no punches in responding to her critics citing that she will not resign as per their will. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Informative Newspaper, she stated that some of the accusations against her are unjustifiable.

One of them she said, is the claim that she decreased the increment percentage from what employers had initially promised in the meeting. According to Rantšo, the minimum wage is facilitated by the Wage Advisory board which she is not a part of.

In that board she said both the employers and employees are represented in equal numbers while the proceedings of the board are being chaired by the ministry’s Principal Secretary (PS) with the meetings’ secretary also being an official from the ministry.

She stated that statistics and the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) are also represented where the bank advises the board on the economic status while they discuss the increment.

The committee’s role she said, is to reach an agreement of the percentage and advise her as the minister so that the agreed amount could be send to Basotho to raise their views before confirmation and the gazette be passed.

But this time she said they failed to advise her because they failed to reach an agreement where the unions demanded 20% increase while the employers could only offer 5.6%. Because of this she said she had to take the CBL’s advice that inflation was 5% by then, meaning 5% increase was the only possible settle.

However, she said the public’s views had only come back before lockdown, after which the government of Lesotho decided to suspend the issuing of the gazzete, up to this day. However she said she is disappointed that the unions speak as though the gazette has already been issued.

She also mentions that when the agreement of suspending the gazette amid COVID-19 was made, they were involved and part of the agreement yet they comeback to protest about it.

As for the maternity law, she said it is also surprising that they accuse her of not facilitating the passing of that law yet it is stuck with them through the National Advisory Committee on Labour (NACOLA), which they haven’t handed over to her.

Soon as it gets to her, she says she wouldn’t hesitate but table it in parliament as soon as possible. This she said is that one accusation that really pains her among many others.

Rantšo is of the understanding that, “the unions are really missing the point as to what their real mandate is. ” She stated that they have brainwashed the workers by always pointing at her as if that’s their main work.

That she said is the, ‘only thing they are good at when it comes to representing the workers yet when some of them don’t get their salaries and lose their jobs amongst other disputes that affect them directly at work, they come to her office as individuals and not represented by the unions.

’ Having realized that workers also don’t have an idea what their representatives should represent them on and among other roles, she is going to sensitize them through the media to make sure that they understand and then make right decisions. She maintained that if there’s anyone who needs to step down it is the leaders of the unions as they have failed their clients and not her.

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