Dear Editor,
The hospitality industry just like any other industry fell victim to privatization in the hands of the UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and was not spared by his schemes and maneuvers that pushed a selfish agenda to enrich himself.
He didn’t stop at that but followed his gold digging even when the hotel was sold, he became board chair where he ensured that the Zambian worker he wants to serve now got peanuts at the expense of huge profits which they shared as a board to compound, even proposed to the company not to pay service charge which is law. The union fought in the spirit of oneness and restored hence little did we know that his intensions were deep rooted, they introduced heavy casualization to an extent where casuals outnumbered the permanent staff. Medical services were only available to white staff.
It is therefore that we the former Branch Union Leaders of Sun Hotel (Z) Ltd of Livingstone Zambia, where Hakainde Hichilema was Chairman of the Board, would like to advice our fellow employees in the Hotel industry not to vote for Hakainde Hichilema as a Republican President of Zambia in the forthcoming General Elections because he has no respect for workers’ rights.
H.H wants the law that empowers employees in the hotel industry to be abolished. The said law states that a hotel shall add to every bill a service charge of ten percent of the bill, which shall be paid in equal shares to all the employees who are unionisable or are eligible for union membership.
Hakainde Hichilema and his management team of Sun hotels did not want to pay service charge for couple of years until the workers through their representatives sued the company to the high court. The company started intimidating its workers to sign a form to forgo their right which meant to exempt the company from paying service charge.
Thank God only a handful succumbed to that evil vice.
These schemes by HH and group made the union to wedge a struggle which took [7] seven years. The union took the monster to court using Sakwiba Sikota of central chambers. In 2004, the union petitioned the speaker of national assembly using Mvunga Associates and Thankfully in 2006 the committee on Economic and labour affairs recommended that the law of the land on service charge should prevail.
Still HH and his team continued to abrogate payment of by including managers on the payment of service charge. The issue was taken to court which made the company and HH to respect the law. HH is a stubborn Man.
Staff transport
Staff transport was inhuman in that workers were only transported form the Central Business Area Livingstone (Post Office) to the Resort (Victoria Falls) regardless of time.
The union had to tailor their own staff transport program to ferry staff from the central Business area (Post Office) to places near their homes.
Warning: if you entrust Republican presidency with Hakainde Hichilema, he will not respect workers welfare and women employees will not be taken care of.
Casualization was rampant. Sun Hotels created a company (Labour broker) called Equal Access which was responsible for managing casuals. The Union Branch fought against the vice. Petitioned the relevant authorities including State House. The vice was defeated by abolishing the law that backs labour blokering.
As a master of casualization can you trust H.H. to be the Republican president. It will mean Permanent pensionable employment will be the thing of the past.
Citizen empowerment
Hakainde Hichilema does not believe in empowering Zambia’s black citizens. We say so, at a time when he was the chair for the board of Sun Hotels Zambia. A tender for staff transport was given to a foreigner. The second transporter who took over from the one was also a foreigner Bush Trucks. It took the Union to advocate for black empowerment for the tender to be given to a black Zambian citizen residing in Livingstone. The Union and its members threatened not to board the transport vessels owned by foreigners. That’s the Union brought A.T.S transporter owned by a local black citizen.
At the time of HH as a board chair, the hotel never empowered the local black farmers to supply the hotel, only the white farmers from Lusaka supplied the veggies. It took the Union to fight against the vice. That’s how the Monday market was introduced to empower local black Zambian farmers.
HH is selfish and wants only him to be rich as a black Zambian. The moment you vote for this person in the position of Republican president expect not to be empowered as black citizens.
Corporate social responsibility
Hakainde Hichilema and his company Sun Hotels did nothing tangible in Livingstone in terms of corporate social responsibility not even sponsoring a community football team.
He has shown how his heart is not for people but the love of profits. He has continued to influence his friends in the industry to continue lobbying for the abolishment of service charge and we thank the current government for not heeding to the calls of abolishing service charge. We therefore urge all workers in the lodges, restaurants, hotels, motels, camps and Hospitality schools to be weary of HH and Vote for His Excellence Dr. Edgar Changwa Lungu and PF candidates to protect our income.
‘’Leadership is about Attending to the cries of the people.”
Martin Simumbwe -Former Branch Union Chairman
Jones Mutowa – Former Branch union Vice Chairman.
