The Sunday Mail
Mr Msipa
Debra Matabvu – Sunday Mail Reporter
Zimbabwe should adopt a social contract and resuscitate the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) for Government, labour and business to share a common economic vision, analysts have said.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries immediate past president Mr Charles Msipa said the absence of critical engagement was impeding economic transformation.
He said the TNF would help iron out sticking points around labour-related costs such as salaries.
“The best thing at the moment is to agree on a social contract among employees, employers and Government that ensures business viability. Firms are retrenching, and the cost of labour is high, making industry uncompetitive.
“Employees are demanding salary increments of 15-40 percent, with employers – on the other hand – offering something low, leading to deadlocks and production falls. To restore economic growth, the Tripartite Negotiating Forum should be resuscitated and this enables business viability.”
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general Mr Japhet Moyo said his constituency looked forward to the resumption TNF discussions.
“It is a very useful platform. We dealt with labour law reforms in 2012 through that forum and bringing it back would be very helpful.”
The TNF is a voluntary social dialogue platform, bringing together Government, business and labour to discuss socio-economic progress. It was constituted in 1998, but has not been operating in recent years as the grouping does not have a regulatory framework.
Government is moving to provide legislation through the Tripartite Negotiating Forum Bill, which will be tabled before the Eighth Parliament.
A social contract is an agreement among members of a society to co-operate for socio-economic progress. It involves, for instances, the three social partners making concessions and compromises on identified issues.
Advocacy on the contract reached a crescendo during the hyperinflation period (2007-8), and not much progress has been reported.
On June 1, 2007, Government, labour and business signed three protocols, demonstrating unity of purpose in the quest for economic development, and each social partner was handed a specific task.
The Incomes and Pricing Stabilisation Protocol was tailored to provide a conducive environment for restoring macro-economic stability as well as promoting economic recovery and sustainable socio-economic development.
It also sought to ensure agreed formula for restraining price movement took into account legitimate cost increases transparently while managing incomes and pricing movements.
Business was mandated to supply goods and services at affordable and competitive prices, and to promote corporate responsibility towards tax payment.
On the other hand, labour would advocate that workers received Poverty Datum Line-linked wages and also promote productivity enhancement measures.
The Salary and Wages Advisory Board would then monitor incomes.
The Protocol on Restoration of Production Viability focused on improving productivity and production capacity utilisation, as well as fostering macro-economic stability, economic turnaround and shared growth.
Government would remove all price distortions and provide targeted social safety nets, and restore Zimbabwe’s breadbasket status via a number of initiatives.
It was also expected to respond swiftly to measures that promote business viability.
The third protocol on Mobilisation, Pricing and Management of Foreign Currency sought to ensure the availability of foreign currency in the official system as well as reduce exchange rate price distortions and reduce foreign currency leakages.
