Statement by the Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) Acting President Mrs Myra Mara Sakala Ngoma at the Special Tripartite Consultative Labour Council Meeting held on Thursday, 26th March 2020 at Twangale Park

• Honourable Minister of Labour and Social Security Mrs Joyce Nonde Simukoko, MP
• The Permanent Secretary, Mr. Chanda Kaziya
• The President of Zambia Congress of Trade Unions, Mr. Chishimba Nkole
• The Secretary General ZCTU Mr. Cosmus Mukuka
• The President of the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia, Mr. Chingati Msiska
• The Secretary General FFTUZ
• Senior Government Officials present
• My dear colleagues from the employers
• The Director International Labour Organisation, Mr George Okutho
• The media team
• Ladies and Gentlemen

Allow me to make some remarks on behalf of the Zambian Employers at this Special Tripartite Consultative Labour Council meeting which has been convened in the midst of the on-going corona virus (COVID-19) that has affected many countries in the world.

We are all aware Honourable minister, ladies and gentlemen that the corona virus (COVID-19) started in china and unfortunately it has been spreading to other countries where it has so far been devastating as a number of people have so far lost their lives while many people are still sick. We are also aware of the fact that the world health organisation has since declared the corona virus (covid-19) as a global pandemic. The virus is deadly as so far a number of people have died and this has caused a number of both affected and unaffected countries to put preventive measures in place including travel bans. The travel bans have come with devastating impact on some of our businesses especially our members in the tourism sector and its segment of hospitality. Honourable minister this sector has been hit badly as the travel bans mean that there are no potential tourists to come to our country Zambia and equally 2 business men and women will not come for their business deals or contracts. The hotels have suffered cancellation of bookings for workshops or seminars as gatherings of more than 50 people are discouraged. The companies need solutions especially on matters of employees. It is a well-known fact that the pandemic has also affected companies in several other sectors with a number of challenges to employers and the major challenge is that of loss of revenue making it difficult for business houses to run smoothly. The COVID -19 is therefore, is threatening the health and livelihoods of workers and employers globally and in Zambia. The virus has major economic and employment impacts as a number of companies are in danger of being forced out of business with grave impact on employment. As stakeholders we need to act now, quickly and responsibly to minimise the social and economic consequences. We need to find innovative solutions for the businesses and Zambian workers who will be impacted through labour market resilience, support and adaptation to limit the unemployment fallout and the loss of income due to the COVID – 19 outbreak. The Zambia Federation of employers and its members will stand in solidarity with the government and we underline the critical need for social dialogue in designing measures to overcome this impact. ZFE is thankful to you guest of honour that your office has responded favourable to the letters and requests made by the social partners, ZCTU and ZFE to convene a meeting to discuss the devastations of covid-19 so that as social partners we come up with working solutions on how we can manage or simply mitigate the impact of covid-19 on both businesses and the workers in the country. Guest of honour, ladies and gentlemen, you will agree with me that when the country is faced with a pandemic such as this one and is anticipating a lockdown, there must be leadership provided to the nation and as such this meeting is very important as it aims at providing space for the leaders on the labour market to brainstorm and come up with possible solutions that will mitigate the impact that the covid-19 will or may have on the world of work. Allow me on behalf of my federation to take this opportunity to thank and at the same time commend the Republican President His Excellency Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu for taking time to address the nation on Wednesday 25th March 2020 on COVID -19 and for pronouncing certain measures in phase one that can help in preventing its spread such as closing bars ,night clubs, cinemas, gyms and casinos, restaurants to operate on take -away and delivery basis only, the suspension of all international flights to and from Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula, Simon Mwansa and Mfuwe International Airports and instead to have all 3 international flights land and depart from Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA). ZFE welcomes these measures. Guest of honour as ZFE we are concerned that the 12 cases that have so far been reported in Zambia are those with people who visited affected countries and they came in with the virus. This means that without any one having brought the corona virus from the initial affected countries, zambia would have been at zero case of the virus. Guest of honour our hope is that these our dear friends will be seriously quarantined so that they are not able to spread the virus to other people in the country. Equally those of their relatives and friends whom they may have interacted with must respect the requirement for self-quarantine and must quickly undergo testing. Since it is clear that the positive cases the country has recorded are a result of people having brought the virus from other countries, ZFE would like to propose that the screening process at the airport and other entry points must include the actual testing as opposed to the current process of simply taking the temperature and contacts of those arriving from other countries. Guest of honour, ladies and gentlemen, the cancellations of hotel bookings and flights will not only affect the tourism or the hospitality industry but will have a repo effect on other sectors because of the value chain aspects.: effectively this will have devastating impact on the industry at large and its employees. We therefore, call on our government to start preparing for more interventions including aspects of Ø payments to business and workers to cover up to a certain percentage of wages for workers. Ø defer the implementation of the Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019 and Ø suspend contributions to the National Health Insurance Management Authority (MHIMA) Ø deferment of all penalties and interest on the late payments of statutory taxes until the situation is under control Ø pay local debt to private companies Ø defer the implementation of Statutory Instrument (SI) No. 24 compelling foreign companies to have a transfer price policy Ø suspend the national health insurance contributions. Guest of honour , ladies and gentlemen, as much as we in ZFE believe that a lockdown at this time may be necessary in order to stop the exponential spread of the virus before our health services get overwhelmed to try and manage the contagion before it becomes unmanaged , we are also of the view that since Zambia has only recorded 12 cases of corona virus , this number is manageable in terms of containing and even combating this deadly pandemic if we closed all 4 our boarders and halted all international flights to and from Zambia and if the twelve so far infected could be treated. Guest of honour, ladies and gentlemen i wish to conclude by stating that in the midst of this deadly COVID -19, business continuity, income security and solidarity are key to prevent the spread and protect livelihood and build a resilient economy and society. We stress in the strongest terms the important role that social dialogue and social partners will play in the control of the virus at the workplace and beyond but also to avoid massive job losses in the short and medium term. Joint responsibility is needed for dialogue to foster stability. The united nations and especially the world health organisation must take into consideration the need for protecting employment and income through strengthening social protection measures in both the resolution of the pandemic and in setting the foundation for the employment and economic conditions for recovery. Guest of honour more submissions as mitigating factors from our side will be made as we engage in the plenary discussion. I WISH EVERYONE A FRUITFUL DELIBERATION AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR LISTENING.

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