Mzuzu shop keepers’ pay up 25 percent

Mzuzu shop owners, just like their counterparts in Blantyre, have agreed to hike salaries of their workers by 25 percent for the lowest paid and 10 percent for the highest paid.

Chairperson of the workers, Ramsey Chirwa, told Business News on Monday the workers have settled for K25 500 (about $51).

He said his committee will visit some shops at the end of December to find out if the hike is being implemented as some workers were complaining of signing for money they do not receive.

“Some workers lodged complaints with us that they get lower wages than what they sign for but they do not question their bosses to save their jobs,” said Chirwa.

One of the shop owners, Zubair Muhammed, said they only agreed to raise the salaries to K25 500 to be at par with their counterparts in Blantyre.

The workers downed tools last week demanding a salary increment from K18 600 (about $37) to K35 000 (about $70).

In an earlier petition presented to the regional labour office, the workers were, among others, asking for better working conditions such as holiday entitlement, contract signing and working half day on Saturdays as stipulated in their contracts.