By Vincent Gunde
A concerned employee speaking on a strict condition of anonymity, has appealed to Minister of Labour to visit and appreciate the pain and sufferings employees of an Indian company –Central Poultry Hatchery Kanengo 1 are facing in their everyday life work and address their sufferings.
CDEDI inspect Central Poultry Ltd For Waste Management
The employee has claimed that employees of this company are not allowed to go to church to praise the Lord on Sundays and whoever gets absent from work on this day is regarded as not wanting to be with the company and has to be fired.
The citizen said beside the company forcing its employees to work on Sunday, the day is being taken as normal and not an over time day as happened in other companies.
Central Poultry Pledges K400 Million Towards Borehole Rehabilitation Initiative
The source said employees of this company receive a maximum salary per month of between K170,000 to K200,000 with the lowest being K150,000 saying this is not matching with today’s cost of living and he don’t know if the salary structures are appearing in the Ministry of Labour books.
He said if one go to attend the neighbors funeral Service, that day is being taken as absent on duty and if he attends to a funeral of his father, mother and children, one is given seven days and within those days, he has to be back to work.
The soaring cost of chicken feed: Implications for poultry farmers in Malawi
The citizen has claimed that at the company there’s no Union to represent them and as a result one Indian a Mr. Muhammad is used to insult and castigate the employees by going inside their private parts and when the issue is taken before the General Manager who is also an Indian, a Malawian employee is found on the wrong side.
UDF questions government why Malawians paying more over fuel adjustment?
He said time to start work at this company is 06:00 hours and whoever comes to report for work after 06:00 hours is declared to be absent saying this is posing to be a challenge to women who some had children to prepare for them before going to work.
The citizen has claimed that Mr. Lameck Banda was deducted K72,000 from his salary after he got sick for a period of nine days, he was taken in a company vehicle from the office to Area 25 Health centre where he was referred to Kamuzu Central Hospital and he was admitted.
DPP Accused of Betraying Loyal Foot Soldiers as MCP Praised for Rewarding Supporters
He said a woman Ethel Banda was hospitalized, every one in the company including the bosses knew the condition and when she recovered, she reported for duties where she was deducted K50,000 from her salary as being absent from duties.
” We are not treated as human beings but wild animals, City Council officials have been coming here but they only pocket cash from the Indians and off they go,” said the source.
He has appealed to the Labour Minister to demand from the Indians the following:
- They should be allowed to praise the Lord on Sundays and those going to work must be overtime.
- To stop insulting them by going inside their private parts.
- Those who work from 06;00 to 21:00 hrs, they should be given all the overtime money and not limited money taking out other working hours as not important.
- To allow them attend funeral services of their neighbors and that day should not be treated as absent.
- The Ministry to check in the Lobour books if there’s a clause that is saying the maximum number of days in a year for one to be sick is 12 days.
The citizen has assured the Ministry of Labour that what they are facing at the Central Poultry Hatchery Kanengo 1 is just a tip of an iceberg urging it to be visiting Indian companies more frequently and without notice to appreciate how Malawian employees are being abused in their places of work.
Comrades Ntanyiwa, Mangochi praises Mathanga for fuel supply
He has also invited the Minister of Labor to visit another Indian company – Milele located at Roberts in Area 29 Lilongwe to appreciate women working while braving the sun sweating winnowing white beans without personal protective equipment saying these women go home with K1,500 a day.
