Africa-Press – Zambia. Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) workers on the Zambian side have threatened to go on strike, following management’s failure to pay them salaries for the last five months.
Crews and Allied Workers Union of TAZARA (CRAWUZ) President, Bevis Silumbe says the workers on the Zambian side of the railway firm co-owned with Tanzania have lost patience following management’s failure to settle salary arrears despite numerous appeals and efforts to dialogue over the matter.
During a meeting addressed by Kapiri Mposhi District Commissioner Francis Hasalama, who spoke on behalf of Minister of Transport and Logistics Frank Tayali, Mr Silumbe appealed to the government to aid the TAZARA management in paying workers their salaries, in order to avoid disruption.
Mr Silumbe complained that it is unfair that TAZARA workers on the Zambian side have been going months without pay, while their Tanzanian counterparts who have since been included on the typical government payroll, are up-to-date with salaries and other emoluments.
Mr Silumbe has asked the Zambian government to consider including TAZARA workers on the government payroll and address long standing operational challenges of railway companies to enable it to sustainably pay workers salaries.
Meanwhile, some workers of TAZARA have appealed to the government through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) to come to their aid, as they’ve been evicted from their houses and are failing to fend for their families due to unpaid salaries.
But Kapiri Mposhi District Commissioner Francis Hasalama has implored the workers not to proceed on strike but allow government and TAZARA management to mobilized funds to settle the salary arrears
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