Years pass, but the expectations of railway workers remain the same. They ask for the clearance of social liabilities. By Cheikh Camara –
The May 1 festival was an opportunity for railway workers to return to their “strategic expectations”, namely “the implementation of the Dakar-Tamba railway strategy in standard, so that this process of implementation is accelerated”, but also “the settlement of social passive long awaited by workers”. Babacar Gaye, secretary general of the single union of rail workers, clearly informs: “After these two strategic expectations, we are, internally, in negotiations for a new establishment agreement to be established, because the one we have a date of transrail, which means that it is no longer relevant to the configuration of the national society.”
The member of the Senegal Railway Intersyndicale also talks about the company’s organizational problem. “We want the implementation of an organization much more suited to the missions and objectives of the Senegal railways.” The trade unionist also returned to “improving working conditions” such as “hygiene and safety”, but especially “work tools”, so that he says, “workers stop using force for certain tasks. We would have to be supported in relation to these points so that we can act much more effectively. ”
In addition, the Secretary General of SUT-Rail is delighted with the fact that “today, the different parties understand that social dialogue settles down. What we even see at the national level, where we are in a permanent dialogue. We expected the signing of a social pact today, on the occasion of the May 1 festival, and even if this signature is not yet effective, there is still hope, because as long as negotiation and discussion are not broken, we can always say that we will arrive at a solution. “
According to Babacar Gaye, “you have to take all the time necessary, as a union organization, before signing this pact. We must have the necessary guarantees in terms of commitment to the level of the State and the other parties ”. He continues: “The State too, we can understand it, because today there are many requirements that are in this social pact project, which concern compliance with signed agreements. If we sign a social pact which will not be respected, which will not be sustainable, which does not guarantee social stability, it will be lost. ”
In the eyes of Mr. Gaye, “all parties must therefore continue to discuss so that the government does the maximum possible in order to meet workers’ expectations”. For him, “today, what is really important for our company is that we can understand, with the director general, that despite disagreements, discussions and opposite positions, it takes an agreement of all the parts that make it up for his smooth running”.
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