After lengthy campaigns, strikes and negotiations, BWI affiliate in Mauritius, Construction, Metal, Wooden and Related Industries Employees Union, CMWEU, and the B.A.C.E.C.A, the National Organisation of Local Employees in the Construction Sector, signed an across the board basic wage increase of 22 per cent that will cover 40,000 employees in the construction sector. This agreement also covers migrant workers, casual and contract workers for 2018. The agreement incudes other benefits such as night shift allowance, meal allowance, sick leave, equal work for equal pay, bonus for contractual workers at the end of the contract on prorate basis and many others.
In 2017, the union has particularly organised precarious workers on their work site. Almost every 2 months it has called for a mass demonstration and claimed to be a “Strong Union that saves lives”.
Despite the achievements, the union pointed that it will continue influencing changes in the labour legislation, campaigning against casualization and for regulation of employment of foreign workers to prevent all abuses and ensure that all workers irrespective of race or nationality benefit from same terms and conditions of employment. It will also continue campaigning against Chinese contractors violating workers’ rights, lobbying for trade union access on all work sites without excluding site under the control of Chinese and other foreign contractors and consolidation of sectoral bargaining through proper legal procedures.
The union extended its profound gratitude to BWI, UtoU, 3F for supporting it directly and through exchange of experiences on collective bargaining and servicing membership.