Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value

[Augustine Moshi]

Did you know that mine operators in Tanzania pay black Tanzanians less than they pay anybody else? Within our mines, a white employee with the same qualifications and experience as some black folks would earn several times what the unfortunate blacks earn! And, if you are black but do not come from Tanzania, you get to earn a lot more than if you were a black Tanzanian!

So, Barrick Gold and the other companies that are carting off our natural resources pay their white employees much more than they pay their Ghanaian employees, and pay their Tanzanian employees a lot less than they pay all other Africans with the same qualifications and experience.

This color and nationality based salary system seems to me to be distinctly evil. Employees should be paid for what they do rather than for what they are. Why should a Tanzanian, a Ghanaian and a Canadian Geologist who graduated from the same university, in the same year, and with comparable results, end up getting greatly different pay levels from the same employer, and at the same place?

We demand equal pay for work of equal value. We particularly demand that we be treated according to this principle by those that operate in our country. It was precisely for this sort of thing that we fought for our independence. We take offence that Barrick Gold and other mine operators dare to viciously discriminate against us in our own country.

What became of Mwalimu's battle cry "Tumeonewa vya kutosha, tumenyonywa vya kutosha, tumenyanyaswa vya kutosha. Sasa tunataka kufanya mapinduzi"?

 

[JohnShaaban]

So, Barrick Gold and the other companies that are carting off our natural resources pay their white employees much more than they pay their Ghanaian employees, and pay their Tanzanian employees a lot less than they pay all other Africans with the same qualifications and experience.

Augustine, I once heard the Government of BWM instructed mining investors to pay under those scale even though Investors were willing to pay equally as per other areas of their investments.

Pendekezo la malipo kidogo lilianzia toka pale $erikali ya BWM ilipowaagiza kuwalipa fidia pungufu watu waliokuwa wanahamishwa kutoka maeneo husika. Sina hakika kama salio lilibaki kwa wawekezaji au kuna waheshimiwa walifaidika.

 

[Augustine Moshi]

Kama ni kweli Mzee Mkapa ndiye alifanya haya madudu, basi serikali ya sasa isahihishe.

Iweje wabunge wakae kimya wakati tunafanyiwa ubaguzi wa rangi nchini kwetu? Kama hilo halitoshi, tunabaguliwa vile vile kwa kuwa wananchi!

 

[Choveki]

.....Did you know that mine operators in Tanzania pay black Tanzanians less than they pay anybody else? Within our mines, a white employee with the same qualifications and experience as some black folks would earn several times what the unfortunate blacks earn! And, if you are black but do not come from Tanzania, you get to earn a lot more than if you were a black Tanzanian!

So, basically being black and a tanzanian is the worst thing that could happen to you, especially if you happen to leave in tanzania!

What became of Mwalimu's battle cry "Tumeonewa vya kutosha, tumenyonywa vya kutosha, tumenyanyaswa vya kutosha. Sasa tunataka kufanya mapinduzi"?

C'mon Mwalimu Moshi, you must had have relialized by now that those were just "slogans", meaning very little or nothing in straight words! You dont need to go very far to realize that, as the mess we are in today, was started just few months after our so called independence!

 

[Bowbow]

We need patriotic Tanzanians, mimi niliwahi kufanya kazi mahali fulani mikoa ya kando ya ziwa. yakatokea hayo same qualification, same Job Description but different payment almost double kwa foreigner. When we quaestioned why?

Tuliambiwa yeye ni foreigner, na ikaanza chuki na ugomvi kati ya mzungu (mtawala) na sisi tulie uliza. Tulimwambia utaondoka uiache hii nchi yetu na hapa sio yenu.

Alikua na tabia ya kushika watu matako (kina dadas) then tulitumia hiyo kama silaya ya sexual harrasment akaondoka within 36hrs (na tulimwambia at last hrs wewe umeondoka na wenzio watakufuata hapa ni kwetu)

Kilichofuata alikuja Country Director and East African Dirctor) akaweka mambo sawa mishara ikapaa tukatofautiana insurance tu.

Similar case happened to Care International in one of its offices(ila huyu walimbania kwenye work permit kwa kucollaborate na watu wa migration wakarevork permit yake).

Pia iliwahi kutokea TTCL wakati walipokuja wazungu(kuna watu walikataa kufanya kazi kwa kisingizio wao hawajui wanataka waelekezwe na hao wazungu maana ni experts, matokeo yake wazungu waliokuja wakashindwa waswahili wakawaonesha jinsi ya kufanya hivyo wakaomba either wawe promoted na kupewa sawa na kulipwa sawa waliongezewa but hakukuwa na usawa)

Mkisubiri Serikali yetu ifanye mambo mtachelewa anzeni hapo mlipo kwa kutumia taaluma na mashauriano. Ikishindikana (sexual harassmet ni tool ambayo kwa wageni ni 48hrs anaondoka anakuachia nchi yako)

 

[MzalendoHalisi]

Bowbow,

Mbona unatutisha- je pia akiwa mzungu mwanamke iwe sexual harassment kwa wanaume Watz-nae utamsingizaje?

Well umeongea ukweli- haswa kwa mifano ya uzalendo uliyosema!

 

[Kasana]

Haya mambo yapo kila sehemu ambako kuna milikiwa na mgeni, kuanzia mahospitalini (Agha khan and the likes hadi kwenye international organasations).

Hii inasababisha wafanyakazi kuhamahama kila kukicha!
Tunatakiwa kupigania haki yetu wenyewe pale!

 

[Bin Maryam]

Kwa hiyo nikivuta passport yangu ya nje na kuja kufanya kazi bongo nitalipwa kama TX?

Kweli kumfundisha mjamaa ubepari ni sawa na kumfundisha mamba kuruka kama ndege.

 

[Fundi Mchundo]

Tatizo letu ni kuwa hutajawa organised. Haki ya mfanyakazi inapatikana pale wafanyakazi wanapoungana kudai haki yao. Hao wafanyakazi wakitanzania ( naona mwandishi ametumia neno black, ina maana mtanzania mwenye asili ya kiarabu, kihindi au kizungu analipwa tofauti?) wakijiunga na kwa kuomaja wao kudai majadaliano kuhusu mishahara watafanikiwa zaidi. Ndivyo nchi za ulaya zinavyofanya. Hii ya mmoja mmoja kwenda kudai au kutumia mbinu chafu hazitawafikisha mbali. Wala si serikali itakayowakomboa. Ni nyinyi wenyewe maana ni nyinyi mnaojua 'what you are worth'.

 

[Fundi Mchundo]

Did you know that mine operators in Tanzania pay black Tanzanians less than they pay anybody else? Within our mines, a white employee with the same qualifications and experience as some black folks would earn several times what the unfortunate blacks earn! And, if you are black but do not come from Tanzania, you get to earn a lot more than if you were a black Tanzanian!

So, Barrick Gold and the other companies that are carting off our natural resources pay their white employees much more than they pay their Ghanaian employees, and pay their Tanzanian employees a lot less than they pay all other Africans with the same qualifications and experience.

This color and nationality based salary system seems to me to be distinctly evil. Employees should be paid for what they do rather than for what they are. Why should a Tanzanian, a Ghanaian and a Canadian Geologist who graduated from the same university, in the same year, and with comparable results, end up getting greatly different pay levels from the same employer, and at the same place?

We demand equal pay for work of equal value. We particularly demand that we be treated according to this principle by those that operate in our country. It was precisely for this sort of thing that we fought for our independence. We take offence that Barrick Gold and other mine operators dare to viciously discriminate against us in our own country.

What became of Mwalimu’s battle cry "Tumeonewa vya kutosha, tumenyonywa vya kutosha, tumenyanyaswa vya kutosha. Sasa tunataka kufanya mapinduzi"?

Hii inawezekana kweli? Wote hawa wasome shule moja, mwaka mmoja, matokeo sawasawa, experience (?) sawa sawa na wote waishie sehemu moja ya kufanyia kazi?! Vitu kama hivi vinapunguza uzito wa hoja yenu.

 

[Augustine Moshi]

Some wars need to be fought on several fronts. The government can be pressured (by workers unions) to pass a law that would make it a felony to discriminate against nationals in salaries and emoluments. This would be easy to do, and CCM could even pick up a couple of badly needed points from it.

Human Rights Lawyers could be persuaded to take this on as a human rights issue. If it is not a human rights issue to be discriminated against and short-changed in your own country, then what is? I call upon Mr. Lissu, and other no-nonsense lawyers like him, to file a class action against Barrick Gold and the other employers who are practicing salary apartheid against us. We promise an abundance of complainants on this.

Individual employees should consider suing their employers, in the employer's country. This cannot be done in Tanzania at the moment, as we do not have a law against racial discrimination in salaries and emoulments. Underpayment due to racial and national discrimination, emotional damage suffered from racial harassment, etc, could attract substantial amounts of money in compensation. Tanzanian hotel workers and mine workers would have no difficulty convincing a judge (or a jury) that they should be compensated for being underpaid because of their race and nationality.

Some of us are aware of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga's book "NOT YET UHURU". We do not yet have UHURU in Tanzania if foreigners can walk in, treat us with contempt and underpay us simply because we are us. We must do something about it. If they do not agree to treat us as their equals, then we owe it to posterity to throw them out.

 

[Choveki]

Kwa hiyo nikivuta passport yangu ya nje na kuja kufanya kazi bongo nitalipwa kama TX?....

We ivute hiyo pasipoti yako ya kigeni halafu nawe uwe baadhi ya hao "chosen few"!

 

[Augustine Moshi]

Bin Mariam,

Sijui kama hivi tunavyozungumza kuna watu ambao mwanzoni walikuwa wazawa na sasa wanafanya kazi kama wataalamu wa nje hapa. Huko nyuma walishakuweko. Nafahamu mzawa mmoja alikuwa anafundisha UDSM kama mtaalamu toka Ujerumani. Bahati mbaya alifariki (he drowned while bathing), na kulikuwa na kujiuliza kama arudishwe kwao Ujerumani au azikwe kwa wazazi wake. Alizikwa kwa wazazi wake.