Transport trade unions urged to be organised

Heads of transport trade unions in the country have been told to organise the sector and carry out activities in an orderly manner for the good of all Cameroonians.

This was one of the major recommendations made yesterday November 11, 2014 after a consultative meeting between five government ministers and heads of transport trade unions who had opted for a strike action at the beginning of this week if their complaints were not met.

While opening the meeting, the Minister of Transport, Robert Nkili, made it clear that he and his colleagues were out to have a working session with them on what they think the government still has to do to improve the living conditions of transporters in the country.

While calling on the representatives of trade unions to present their grievances, Robert Nkili urged them to be simple, respectful and patriotic in their presentations.

The Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana said talks with transport trade unionists have always dwelled on same issues such as petrol prices meanwhile the issue of an increase in fuel costs had been discussed with decisions taken.

Coming back to the cost of petrol, according to the Minister of Trade, means the heads of trade unions have never understood the Head of State’s ordinance on petrol prices. Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana stressed that the solution was not for the government to get into an accord with trade unionists but the need for them to understand what is happening. The Minister of Trade said the government was open for further talks to see into the issue of petrol prices.

Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence in Charge of the Gendarmerie, Jean Baptiste Bokam called on the union heads to organise themselves because there is a lot of cacophony in the sector with so many groups doing different things.

He even asked them if they had different agendas besides the strike action because there were so many heads for one union and each had a different view on happenings in the sector.

The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Grégoire Owona said there was a law on National Social Security. He underscored that if a worker wants to be affiliated to the National Social Insurance Fund, it is up to the employer of that worker to register him with the Fund or the worker can go ahead to register himself. Minister Owona said it was not his place to sign a decision in that light for a law had been passed on this and it was the place for every party to respect the law.

Robert Nkili told the heads of trade unions that in the days ahead, he is going to carry out an investigation to know the number of transport trade unions in the town of Yaounde and Douala as well as the number of taxis that operate in these towns. Robert Nkili also said henceforth, trade unions will be involved in driving school examinations.

In a bid to also revamp the sector, the Minister of Transport reiterated that an intense road worthiness campaign of vehicles will be carried out throughout the nation and campaigns to identify taxis through door numbers will increase in a bid to ensure security of passengers as well as identify fake taxi drivers. In due course, the Minister of Transport said, the issue of eradicating toll gate fees will be examined by the competent ministry.