Mwapachu reassures TPC

THE Minister for Public Safety and Security, Mr Bakari Mwapachu, has assured the management of the Moshi-based TPC Limited that the government will do all it can to ensure that peace and harmony prevail at the sugar producing firm

PETER TEMBA, Moshi

THE Minister for Public Safety and Security, Mr Bakari Mwapachu, has assured the management of the Moshi-based TPC Limited that the government will do all it can to ensure that peace and harmony prevail at the sugar producing firm following acts of sabotage perpetrated by some workers who were sacked last month.

“We will protect your interests and create an enabling environment for investors to smoothly operate in the country,” he told the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Robert Baissac, on Friday.

The minister, who was accompanied by the Deputy Minister for Labour, Employment and Youth Development, Mr Jeremiah Sumari and the Director of Criminal Investigation, Mr Robert Manumba, was on fact-finding mission following recent events in which the company’s 30-acre sugarcane field was torched and a Flexi Bell cane loader was set on fire by suspected arsonists.

Mr Mwapachu called on TPC management to collaborate with workers to forge mutual trust and move forward so as to maintain the company’s impressive sugar producing record which rose from 20,000 to 70,000 metric tonnes a year.

When the minister inquired about the root cause of labour unrest that led to two illegal strikes, Mr Baissac told the ministerial delegation which was sent to TPC by the Prime Minister, that the turmoil had nothing to do with workers’ remunerations.

The CEO explained that he had been in the country as foreign investor for the last six years and that during the first four and half years, the company enjoyed good relationship with all the workers as good working environment was in place.

“The minimum salary we pay to our workers, including a package of incentives, is the highest in the agricultural sector and we dish out bonuses when the company makes profit”, he told the delegation that also included Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Mr Mohamed Babu, the Moshi District Commissioner, Mr Musa Samizi and the Regional Police Commander, Mr Lucas Ng’hoboko.

Mr Baissac said the root cause of labour unrest and strikes at TPC was based on trade union representation at the company with some workers preferring to be members of Tanzania Union of Industries and Commerce (TUICO) and others the Tanzania Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (TPAWU).

He said according to the law governing trade unions, before a TPC worker could join TUICO, he or she must resign from TPAWU, which they did not comply, stressing that TPC management has no objection as to which trade union represents workers at the company.

He told the delegation that during the first strike which was staged on February 16 last year, some workers requested the management not to recognise TPAWU and instead recognise a committee whose members had crossed over to TUICO after they were dismissed from TPAWU.

Following the strike, the workers’ representatives and the management resolved that no disciplinary action should be taken against workers who had participated in the strike, Mr Baissac informed the delegation. It was agreed that in the event of another strike, the management should resort to disciplinary action against the culprits that will include summary dismissal.

During the second strike in February this year, the workers claimed that TPC management had allegedly bribed and ‘pocketed’ the regional government and that they were very concerned about the suspension and fate of ring leaders who had tarnished the image of TPC through the press. Mr Sumari pledged to convene a meeting to be attended by officials from TUICO, TPAWU and TUCTA in a bid to solve, once and for all, labour dispute at TPC to restore peace and tranquillity at the firm.

Source: Daily News