CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY RESULTANT LABOUR AND INCOME LEVELS
7.6.0 Summary
Although the new productivity-related wage formula should be hailed as a positive step to increasing industrial productivity as compared to the standard collective bargaining and Trade Union formula, it is important to state that this is no way advocating the elimination or destruction of Trade Unions. On the contrary, we are suggesting that Trade Unions realise the changing current socio-economic environment and adapt their activities accordingly. For instance, dUring the field trips to a number of informal construction sites, it was very clear that informal construction workers were being sUbjected to poor working conditions. Workers were observed working on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. They had no safety shoes, hats or any form of protective clothing. Conditions were worse for a number of women who crush rocks into smaller stone for use in building houses. Undoubtedly, this is one of the reasons why informal construction firms are able to sell their products at a lower cost than the formal builders.
Informal sector companies have very low overhead costs, coupled with the fact that they do not pay any form of taxes. Government should set minimum safety standards even in a liberalised market economy. It is not surprising that none of the informal sector construction firms in our survey based their wages/salaries on trade union negotiation or government recommended rates, they all based their workers' wages on productivity and the profitability of the company.
Given the new economic dispensation under the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme and the enabling shelter strategy, there is now a growing need for the trade unions to change their classical view. They hold diametrically opposed interests against the owners of the means of production (the capitalist) to maximise wages and salaries from their labour. The mere fact that the Zimbabwean Government is no longer going to support public sector loss-making companies, the advent of privatisation means that it is the workers' responsibility to contribute to their companies increased efficiency and profitability, apart from safeguarding their jobs and ensuring increased earnings.
Similarly, companies too have to realise that only a well paid and motivated worker is able to provide maximum productivity input and output. It is becoming increasingly evident that the classical Marxist argument that the two parties are at "War" trying to find which party gains most from the arrangement is out of touch with the new global socio- economic and political environment (Nobbs, 1983, p. 265; 286-292).
• Low government and private sector capital investment in the construction industry resulting in low construction demand. Low construction demand has ultimately led to formal construction labour retrenchments.
The failure to successfully carry out the public sector reform programme has had far reaching implications on the construction industry and the rest of the economy. With 86% of Government bUdget committed to emolument related expenses (CSO, 1998), it follows that the only way Government was able to commit more money for capital projects and the productive sector was by reducing its wage bill and diverting the money to production. This is a situation in which the Government is held ransom by the public sector workers and the electorate and forced to go against its adopted national development strategy. The political decision to give University students more money in monthly grant allowances than it gives to its own graduate workers has only weakened its case for adopting a productivity related wage/salary structure.
The positive factor emerging from the minimal retrenchment that has so far taken place has been the emergence of a vibrant informal sector labour market in almost all sectors of the economy. The construction industry recorded an 80% increase in our survey. The only drawback has been a complete absence of a comprehensive tax regime in the country, to tax this emerging sector and help in spreading the tax burden that is currently borne by a very small proportion of workers in the formal labour market. Taxing the growing informal sector will also help in boosting dwindling Govemment coffers. Taxing the informal construction sector would take the form of a building fee for every building contract submitted through the council's building inspectorate. Admittedly, this would leave out informal housing in the squatter settlements, but at least it would make a start on taxing the sector. Until that is done, Government revenue from income and company taxes will continue to dwindle with every public sector company closed and worker declared redundant.
The high priority given to balancing the national budget above all else has also seen massive declines in the education and training budgets. Although cuts in these budgets have the immediate effect of helping balance the national budget, they have far-reaching long-term implications on the national economy. These reductions will mean that the future generation will lag behind in technological and managerial skills to compete with other countries in a competitive world market. The constant fear of being retrenched from the public sector has also contributed to low morale in the public sector.
Consequently, public sector urban and construction programmes have suffered because qualified professionals have left the sector for greener pastures in the private sector or simply left the country altogether (See also Cornia, 1996, p. 52). It is very clear, even to the protagonist of the Neo-Liberalist theories and policies, that only a strong and efficient public sector can ensure high urban productivity in Third World countries (World Bank, 1991, 23).
Another area of concern is the gender imbalance in national development issues, especially in the construction industry, where women, despite making the bulk of the national (and urban) popUlation, continue to be marginalised. Rather than look at real issues that hinder their participation in national development, the government seems only interested in making symbolic gestures like creating a new department for women.
The department spends almost all of its resources on international conferences and
seminars while women still need equal access to business loans, mortgages, and assistance to land acquisition, education and training.
Declining wage/salary earnings for workers in the country have also led to very few people having any form of considerable saving or investment in housing and other related investment programmes to stimulate the construction industry.