GOVERNMENT SETS MINIMUM WAGE FOR TRUCK AND BUS DRIVERS AT K4,000 AND K3,000 RESPECTIVELY
Minister of Labour and Social Security Hon. Brenda Tambatamba, MP, has announced the revision of the minimum wages for bus and truck drivers.
Here are the highlights;
✅The basic pay for truck drivers has been increased from K3,000 to K4000, while for the bus drivers has been increased from K2,200 to K3,000.
✅Where the employer does not provide, or pay for accommodation for the driver while on duty and the truck does not have a sleeping cabin, subsistence allowances has been increased from US$25 to US$30 per night.
✅Where a truck has a sleeping cabin, subsistence allowances has been increased from US$15 to US$20 per night.
✅The amended Statutory Instrument (SI) signed by Minister of Labour Hon. Brenda Tambatamba includes a list of dangerous goods in line with international standards. The list is as follows:
i. Explosives;
ii. Flammable gases;
iii. Flammable liquids;
iv. Flammable solids;
v. Oxidizing substances;
vi. Toxic substances; infectious substances; and
vii. Radioactive substances.
✅The new statutory instrument (SI) will become operational on 10th April, 2025, three (3) months after its publication.
✅And Government has called on employers to allow employees to join trade unions and engage in collective bargaining which takes into consideration a company’s financial position vis-a-viz profit made so that employees benefit from what they have contributed to the businesses.
✅Employers should embrace union activities because the Minimum Wage Statutory Instrument may not consider different companies’ financial capabilities.
✅In November, 2023, three Statutory Instruments were reviewed and issued for Domestic workers, Shop Workers and General Workers’ Orders for all other categories which were effective in January, 2024.
The figures should have been the other way round. Bus driver K4000 and Truck driver K3000. What is my reasoning behind this? Bus driver transport lives and truck drivers the rest.