2023-07-10 13:01:05
Monday, July 10, 2023
Company
Abdoul Ngandu Belsi, President of the Workers’ Association of Congo. Ph. ACTUALITE.CD.
The Congo Workers’ Association (ATCO) denounces the mistreatment of Congolese workers working in the majority of establishments run by Indo-Pakistanis, Chinese, Lebanese and West Africans. This platform brought together various workers working in the establishments of these expatriates, Sunday July 9, 2023 in Kinshasa, to strengthen their capacities on the legal framework of the labor sector in the DRC.
Congolese workers are planning protest activities to call on the government to put an end to the various cases of mistreatment of which they are victims in these establishments.
“We are in the process of calling for the application of the SMIG, the respect of service hours, and the good management of subcontracting, etc. Our Indo-Pakistani, Chinese, Lebanese and West African partners mistreat us. They do not respect anything, not even the law of our country. Nopus let’s think about how to organize protests in order to bring them to change,” said ATCO President Abdoul Ngandu Belsi.
The latter revealed that the majority of Indo-Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese and West Africans pay their workers at the old rate of the American dollar, namely 1,400 FC for $1, while the current rate has already reached 2,500 FC. A situation that hurts Congolese workers who are unable to tie the two ends of the month with their wages.
“We ask the government to help us. You can imagine that we are paid at the rate of 1,400 FC while the current rate of the US dollar is 2,500 FC. Nothing changes so far. There are those who start work at 8 a.m. and finish at 10 p.m. They behave like people above the law. We wonder if we are really Congolese! “, he lamented.
A young man in his twenties, a worker in an Indian store, said that in the event of any illness, they are not the beneficiaries of any assistance.
“We suffer among the Indians. If you fall ill, you will not benefit from anything. They will also take money from your salary,” he said.
In addition, Georges Opombo, a rights practitioner and citizen activist, called on the government to demonstrate the political will to put an end to the much decried abuse in expatriate establishments.
“We made the workers aware of the legal framework that governs the labor sector in the DRC. The objective is to enable them to defend their rights in the workplace. Corruption in the labor sector is real. We believe that respect for workers in this sector is a problem of political will,” he pleaded.
The despair
The coming to power of President Félix Tshisekedi had given rise to a glimmer of hope for Congolese staff working in businesses run by Indian, Lebanese, Pakistani and Chinese nationals who have long been victims of poor working conditions. 5 years after the departure of the Kabila regime, nothing has changed. The situation is going from bad to worse.
Congolese workers continue to suffer the mistreatment inflicted on them by their bosses, in particular on the low wages, the absence of the right to leave, human rights violations, the non-application of the guaranteed minimum interprofessional wage (SMIG), etc.
There are many of these Congolese mistreated in establishments under the management of expatriates. Everything is happening under the nose of the Congolese authorities. Despite the different waves of demands organized, on several occasions, across the country, nothing changes.
Jordan My own/ACTUALITE.CD
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