Union: Farmers exploiting workers

24 February 2010, The Maravi Post
URL: http://www.maravipost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2610:union-farmers-exploiting-workers&catid=55:society&Itemid=121

Lilongwe:  Workers at tobacco farms are crying out for help, saying they are being exploited but nobody is paying any attention.  In Kasungu and Mchinji, farm owners, who include powerful politicians, are said to have changed the verbal contracts they have with workers, offering the K6,000 per 100 kilograms for a bale of tobacco which can fetch an average of K55,000 at the Auction Floors.

"If I produce one bale, it means the whole year I worked for K6, 000. Our boss has not said anything on the inputs that he gave us. But with the poor rains definitely most of us tenants won't make more than two bales," a tenant at a farm in Kapiri, Mchinji told the Maravi Post.

The tenants, who are estimated to be around 200,000 across the country, get an average of K30, 000 annually. Food deductions can shrink their pay to K14, 000 for the whole calendar year.

Tobacco is Malawi's number one foreign exchange earner but its production has been a source of controversy over the years. Worker exploitation and use of child labor are some of the concerns that have been raised. A draft Tenancy Labour bill has been dormant for over 10 years.

Tobacco Tenants Union General Secretary Raphael Sandram says the new verbal contracts farmers have come up with are unacceptable.  "This is a new level of exploitation; it means one working for nothing. With verbal contracts I don't see tenants being paid up to K60, 000 if they produce 10 bales. Our plight as tenants will be addressed only when the bill goes to Parliament," he said.

Sandram said they had met with Labour Minister Yunus Mussa and three parliamentary committees on Agriculture, Legal Affairs and Budget and Finance to lobby for the bill.

Mussa yesterday said he will personally investigate the matter and promised that the Labour Tenancy Bill will be tabled in Parliament this coming June.  "I cannot comment much as I don't know how much loans the tenant took and the quantity of production, after investigations I will comment," said Mussa.

Tobacco Association of Malawi Executive Secretary Felix Mkumba said its members are encouraged to adhere to the recommended prices.