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Zambia's opposition calls for protest on gov't labor policies

Xinhua, April 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Zambia's main opposition party has called on workers in the country to boycott next month's International Workers' Day celebration as a protest on government' s recent labor policies such as a two-year wage freeze on public workers.

The United Party for Nation Development (UPND) said in a statement Wednesday workers should boycott the celebrations in order to send a strong message to the government that they were not happy over its continued failure to respect workers' rights.

"As UPND, we urge all workers to boycott this year's Labor Day celebrations and instead deliver the message to government that change is needed," the statement said.

It added that by boycotting the celebrations, workers will be sending a strong message that they were not happy about the government's decision to impose a two-year wage freeze on public workers in 2014 and the decision to stop recruitment in the public service as well as continual reversal regarding the retirement age without engaging stakeholders.

In 2014, the government imposed a two-year wage freeze on public workers as well as a two-year freeze on recruitment of workers in the public service. Last year, the government decided to increase the retirement age from 55 to 65 years despite opposition from stakeholders.

The government has since revised the retirement age, with early retirement pegged at 55, normal retirement at 60 years and late retirement at 65 years following pressure from stakeholders. Endi