The Secretary General of Sierra Leone Labour Congress (SLLC), Max Conteh has said in Freetown that they are aware of government shift from the issues related to the health insurance scheme. He made the statement with the executive members of Labour Congress met the Minister of Employment, Labour an Social Security, Mohamed Rahman Swarray at his New England office.
“We want to tell you categorically that the manner in which you want to do it, we will resist it. There is no studies and collaboration. We will not accept what you want to bring. The way they are going with it, workers will not support it,” Mr. Conteh told the minister during a courtesy call made to him.
Conteh pointed out that studies were done by the ministry through NASSIT with respect of the Health Insurance Scheme.
He drew the attention of the minister to the minimum wage which he said some employers are not adhering to.
Mr. Conteh said there are several issues they need to update the minister, adding that after several years, they have been able to review three out of the six Acts. He commended government for doing that. He cited the Employment, Migration and Oversee Acts for which he commended the government.
He emphasized that the country has one of the best Employment Act in the world and urged the minister to help in the implementation of that Act since it is in white paper. He spoke about the several challenges Sierra Leoneans are facing in Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East in search of jobs.
Mr. Conteh spoke about the workers in the informal sector who he said have not been catered for by NASSIT.
“NASSIT just took only 4% of the population in Sierra Leone. These are the pro-poor measures government should take to address their concerns. We want you to see how the coverage for the workers in the informal sector is achieved,” he said and pleaded with the minister to intervene with a view to include them in NASSIT.
Commenting on the issues, the Minister of Employment and Social Security assured Labour Congress of his commitment to work with all stakeholders to achieve the several critical issues they have highlighted. Swarray stressed that laws are useless if not implemented and promised to work with them to implement the laws. He said there is need to have a holistic approach to addressing these issues, noting that any Scheme that leaves the informal sector will be a serious challenge. He said the NASSIT Director General has discussed that issue with him and promised to look into it.
Sierra Leone Labour Congress has a membership of over one thousand from the formal and informal sectors. Their mandate is to promote the interest of their members in addition to partnering with the ministry to achieve their desired goals.