UNIONS TO BE CONTROLLED IN ZAMBIA from a special correspondent
On December 15th, Mr. Justin Chimba, Zambia's Minister of Labour and Mines, introduced a Bill to the National Assembly which he said was "a direct departure from the old and out of date British trade union tradition." Then moving this piece of leginlation - the Trade Union Bill = he claimed that 60% of the disputes in industry were caused by the lack of cooperation between employers and trade unionists, "This" he continued, "stems from sheer negligence and stubbornness on both sides, He added that it was hoped that the new Bill would do much to achieve stable industrial relations.
However, the main part of the Bill is devoted to preventing "infiltration" by outside influences, Affiliation to foreism agencies is forbiddene The Bill has a provision which enables the Minister to control all outside funds destined for the labour movement. It is expected that the Minister will be given powers to remove those officials whom he believes are abusing their posts. There is also provision for the registrar of trade unions to examine the books of unions, and a number of clause have been inserted to hinder the use of unions for political purposes. The Minister has also inserted a clause to empower him to impose a check-off system in any industry or place of work where a union can show at least 60; membership. Under the Bill,to be effective any union would have to join the proposed Zambian