Metolong Dam workers set to strike over pay
MASERU — Employees of a company hired to construct the Metolong Dam are planning to go on strike tomorrow over salaries and working conditions.
The workers said Sinohydro Corporation, a Chinese-owned company, has refused to increase their wages, pay overtime and improve their working conditions.
According to Lesotho Workers Association (LEWA) organiser, Hlalefang Seoaholimo, the strike will be from June 15 to June 20.
“We are demanding a living wage, food and transport allowances and higher overtime payment,” Seoaholimo said.
“The employer said he was paying according to the government of Lesotho gazette and was not willing to negotiate,” he said.
“If there are no successful negotiations during the mentioned dates the strike will stop for three days and commence again for a week with the same time slots.”
Arcus GIBB, an engineering firm supervising the construction project, has already warned Sinohydro Corporation that a strike might delay the project.
On May 11 Michael Neumann, the resident engineer for Arcus GIBB, instructed Sinohydro Corporation to address the workers’ concerns.
He said Sinohydro Corporation must provide lunch for workers not accommodated at the site and improve working conditions.
Metolong Authority warned about the impending strike in a letter to Sinohydro Corporation.
“This may result in a serious development that may hamper the execution of the project and backfires on you and on Metolong Authority,” said Metolong’s chief executive Idris Mahmoud.
Comment by hojoalo on 14 June 2012:
haba se etse batla e thola chelete,fela reseka sebe re teraekang kaofela re tla emisa matala hlooho,le fe ba lifirmeng monyetla he ba mo loanetse.
Comment by tau ya thaba on 14 June 2012:
ba nyela machina ana, haba etse ba patale ba tlohelle ho rotela dieta….ho tloha mono ba nyoke straata…hee re lekeile ke ntja tsena!!!!
Comment by Oa batho on 14 June 2012:
@ tau ya taba ke tlatsa moelelo oa taba tsa hao not your exact words. Musong oona mantose a tala a feele kea kopa thuto ea motho eane oa tsoelike e felle hona tsoelike koana kea kopa basotho ba lesotho le lecha
Comment by tau ya thaba on 14 June 2012:
@oa batho, hae shape fatshe boo ngwana madala, nese ke nkuwe ke maikutlo…nd ke kopa oskanna fosa bitso laka.
Comment by Futuoang Mathaka on 14 June 2012:
This Chinese people esale ba tloaela ho etsa Basotho likatana pusong ea ntata bona pakalitha ea ba latileng koana ha bo bona ba lapile li mptja……e felile nako ea boroso-roso……….Ea fofa toala..ka tlholo ea mathata……puuuuuuso.
Comment by mculu on 14 June 2012:
hee re khathetse ke ho phelisoa ha bohloko ke bo mahlo bopapi bo ralemina ha batsoe ka hara naha ena ea rona re tsebe ho phela ha monate re utloe mofuthu oa naha ea rona.
Comment by mr fong kong on 14 June 2012:
Basothos….
you dont have to take that job in the first place if you not happy with the wage? and i m sure if no one accpet the wage in the first place, it will be raised, but dont complain after you have entered the agreement.
to honour a agreement is element of modern civilization.
Metlong authority picks the cheapest bidder , then they should expect what they are in for. What was saved in the quotation will be sacrafised by others.
you hire a boy to wash your car and agreed 20 maloti, half way the boy says the weather is too cold and he wants a raise to 40 maloti and your car is half done, how would you feel?
But ofcourse the contractor is Chinese and they are always wrong…
Basothos… no wonder this nation is always poor.
Comment by tau ya thaba on 15 June 2012:
hei wena Fong Kong, if uve got nuthn productive to say jst stick ur mouth in ur ass…where on earth have u seen a person who is in need of a job making demands on salaries, cos those chinese wil tel u to take it or leave it..otlase tlohella spane ose bona ka pela hao kapa otla sebetsana le ntja tse osole ka hare?? tlohella ho pota hle monna!!
Comment by mr fang kong on 15 June 2012:
hey tau ya thaba, i will put my penis in ur mothers mouth. and she will love it .
demand and supply, u enter a agreement , you honor it until its finished and renegotiate another contract. if you sell somthing cheap because u are desperate can you ask for more money when you are in a better position?
you know what is a agreement? go back to your tree, you dont belong on land
Comment by mr fang kong on 15 June 2012:
and can you go to any lesotho , sa , usa boss and claim how much you want ? no , they give you a deal and thats it unless if you are extremely talented but which in this case construction ground work is not.
Comment by tau ya thaba on 15 June 2012:
fang kong oa kula oena..e kaba oa sebetsa sekepesele??i doubt
Comment by Willard Mubvumbi on 16 June 2012:
China is doing more harm than good to Africa.
Comment by mr fang kong on 17 June 2012:
hey Willard Mubvumbi , zimbabweans should fuck off back to Zimbabwe, they are not even investing in this country instead they are taking basotho s jobs and every level .
Comment by hojoalo on 18 June 2012:
HABA FUOE THEIR LIVING WAGES,HO FIHLILE O NEPAHETSENG MUSO.rona ha re tsebe!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by voicetruth on 19 June 2012:
The name ‘mr fang kong’ sounds more alien than ‘willard mubvumbi’which is very much african, and zimbabwean of course.
Logically, I would think its much better to have ‘willard’ around than ‘mr fang’. Therefore, I think mr fang should pack his bags 1st and go back to Chaina or wherever that kind of name belongs. Invest!investment! investment! My foot! Do we really have any serious Chainese investor here, or anywhere in Africa for that matter.
The only investment by Chainese, is in bribing government officials to enter the country and engage in all sorts of exploitation of the local people and national resources – taking all the money back to Chaina. They even evade taxes. That’s the JING-JONG trademark wherever they go.
So, go home mr fang. Basotho can always deal with willard their own but mr fang and the like of him should shape up or ship out. The well known transgressions by Chainese have nothing to do with Zimbabweans or any other race in Lesotho.
Comment by Piet Pitso on 20 June 2012:
I’ve never heard any where,at work place,where the wages are enough. Even those who earn more than enough,they still need more money.