By SYLVESTER MWALE –
FOUR affiliate member unions of the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) have pulled out of the mother body in the latest wrangles that have engulfed one of the country’s biggest labour unions.
The four said in their letters to FFTUZ that they were disaffiliating because the union mother body had failed to audit its accounts and hold a quadrennial conference to renew the mandate of leaders.
These are Secondary School Teachers Union of Zambia (SESTUZ), Agriculture Technical and Professional Staff Union of Zambia (ATPSUZ), the Zambia Union for Broadcasting and other Information Disseminators (ZUBID) and National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW).
But FFTUZ national executive secretary Lyson Mando said the unions had disaffiliated after defaulting in the payment of affiliation fees contrary to the reasons they were advancing to the mother body.
Mr Mando said leaders in FFTUZ had not refused to hold a quadrennial conference or engage auditors, but there was no money at the moment to carry out such exercise.
The last quadrennial conference was held in 2004 although there was another one which was abandoned in 2008 after some legal implications. The next one was supposed to be held in 2012 but has since been scheduled for later this year.
He said leaders in SESTUZ, ATPSUZ, ZUBID and NUMAW were not being honest because they owed the centre more than K500,000 in unpaid affiliation fees.
All affiliates of the labour union are said to have agreed recently to contribute at least 10 per cent to FFTUZ.
“But despite this agreement, they were not remitting the actual amount to the centre,” Mr Mando said in an interview.
“But we will do everything possible to get what they owe the centre. SESTUZ alone owes the centre K196,000, NUMAW was supposed to pay K326,000 while ZUBID owes the centre K27,000.”
The national executive secretary also accused SESTUZ general secretary, Sitibekiso Wauyuwa of being personal and misleading the union leadership on the pullout.
But SESTUZ general secretary Mr Wauyuwa said Mr Mando was being economical with the truth because the teachers’ union did not owe any amount of money to the FFTUZ.
“Firstly, the decision to disaffiliate was not personal but was arrived at by NEC and endorsed by the national council,” Mr Wauyuwa explained.
“Secondly, can Mr Mando show us the audited books that show that we owe the centre that colossal sum of money? The law is very clear, if an affiliate union is not remitting affiliation fees it automatically ceases to be a member to the centre.”
“As a matter of fact, yes the centre has written about the money but we have already responded to challenge that and I hope they can tell you about our position as well,” Mr Wauyuwa added.
He said there were no other reasons for pulling out of the FFTUZ other than the failure by the mother body to audit its accounts as well as call for the quadrennial conference to renew the mandate.
Mr Wauyunwa said as far as SESTUZ was concerned, the chapter with FFTUZ was closed and was now eying a move to join the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
The pullout out of the four affiliates is the latest after the disaffiliation of the Health Workers Union of Zambia about four years ago, and this has left FFTUZ with smaller unions whose financial contribution is insignificant.