Business, labour meet to tackle economic crunch

Published: 14 September 2018

BUSINESS and labour met in Masvingo last week to find ways to improve productivity and competitiveness.

This comes at a time the country's economic crisis is deepening, with prices of basic goods skyrocketing, amid rising inflation, a debilitating liquidity crunch, severe cash shortages, low investment, company closures, job losses and companies battling to stay afloat.

Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe executive director John Mufukare told businessdigest this week that the two parties had discussed various issues, ranging from cash shortages, productivity, competitiveness to the role they can play in resuscitating the economy.

Labour was represented by the country's two main labour bodies, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and the Zimbabwe Federation of Traders' Unions.

"We met with labour and discussed a number of issues with a view to see what we can do to help to turnaround the economy of the Second Republic," Mufukare said.

He added that they had also discussed labour costs and the issue of productivity-based wages, which has been a sticking point between business and labour.

"We are putting together a detailed document that includes what we discussed and, once it has been adopted by the various stakeholders, we shall put the document into the public domain," Mufukare said.

Meanwhile, Emcoz will hold its 36th annual congress in Victoria Falls from September 26 to 29.

"The harmonised election of July 30 has finally run its course and we now have what official circles call ‘The Second Republic' in Zimbabwe," Mufukare said.

"Accordingly, the topical labour and employment issue for 2018 should, therefore, be how does Zimbabwe build a workforce to bring about the necessary economic recovery?"

Issues to come under discussion include trends in the workplace and what they mean for employers and their representative organisations, shaping the regulatory framework for productivity, diversity, inclusion and fairness in the workplace of the future, as well as driving youth innovation and start-ups for inclusive growth.

The theme of the congress is Building A Workforce For The Second Republic.
- the independent