PALAPYE: Organisations representing workers in the hotel and tourism industry, furniture trade, agricultural marketing and other commercial enterprises have merged to form one trade union.

The decision was arrived at through a secret ballot vote conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs officials from Selebi-Phikwe region during an extra-ordinary merging delegates’ congress held in Palapye last Saturday. The merger involved the Botswana Hotel Travel and Tourism Union, Botswana Wholesale Furniture and Retail Workers Union, Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board Workers Union and Botswana Commercial and General Workers Union. They have formed a new trade union called the Botswana Hotel, Wholesalers, Furniture, Agricultural and Commercial General Workers Union (BHWFACGWU).

Though there were 63 delegates in the voters’ roll, only 41 turned up. Out of the 32 who voted, 31 supported the decision to merge. Three could not vote because they did not bring their national identity cards.

Former Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) secretary general Balekamang Gabasine hailed the merger and said the amalgamation of small and fragmented unions has been a major item on the BFTU agenda since 1994. He said the BFTU affiliates realised that it would not help the labour movement to have many small and weak members hence the decision to merge. “This allowed for fewer, stronger and viable unions which would make a more representative and strong BFTU whose desired role needs not to be overemphasised. It is encouraging to see that some of you have travelled the hard way to reach a goal conceived more than a decade ago,” he said.

Gabasiane said it is not surprising that negotiations took too long because to succeed an idea had to last the full length of consultations as well as the consideration of the legal aspect.

He stated that the process has to be approached with openness, mutual respect, sense of collectivity and trust so that it is seen to be more democratic and fully representative of the interests of all. He warned against the Big Brother attitude among the merging unions. Gabasiane noted that if well managed, the numerical strength will translate into financial independence and pooled human resources to run the new union’s programmes for development.

“You must aim at providing services and producing goods of world standards.” He warned members to desist from self-destruction which affected other unions. Botswana Hotel Travel and Tourism Workers Union’s secretary general Nicholas Motiki urged members to work hard by recruiting new members and empowering them especially those engaged in negotiations and shopstewards.

“Our union should have a position on issues of national interest and eradicate all stumbling blocks between workers and employers and we should organise and mobilise for a strong, qualitative and quantitative workers’ union,” he said. Motiki indicated that they have won the hospitality group which is a success by virtue of its numerical strength.

He said management has finally agreed to recognise his union by signing an agreement. The national executive committee of the new trade union will be elected at a later date.