By KETRA KALUNGA
THE Zambia Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) has demanded for better pay for workers in the private security companies.
ZCTU President, Chishimba Nkole said most employers in the private security industry have lamentably failed to improve conditions of work and wages.
He was speaking in Kabwe yesterday during the opening of a two-day 13th quadrennial conference for the Zambia Union of Security Officers and Allied Workers (ZUSAW).
Mr. Nkole said the trend has largely contributed to the poor living standards among workers in the industry.
He said there is need for the government through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to regulate the sector in view of the high cost of living in the country.
“The cost of living in this country is high we appeal to the government to urgently work out measures and strategies which would help cushion the poor and marginalised sections of society from the harsh economic environment,” he said.
Mr. Nkole bemoaned lack of a legal framework to guide the operations of the private security companies which he said has led to a lack of formal training for employees.
It has been noted that most of the private security companies do provide firearms and other weapons to their workers and they handle these weapons without any formal training, he said.
Mr. Nkole has implored the sector to invest in training of personnel so as to provide skills to the workers and support their career advancement.
And ZUSAW general secretary, Steven Chanda said the only way to mitigate the challenges facing the private security companies is to have them regulated.
Mr. Chanda called on ZCTU to come on board and help lobby government to regulate the sector failure to which challenges of low salaries wouldn’t be addressed.
