Day: October 2, 2010

HRCM leadership on parliament’s schedule for first sitting

Parliament has scheduled the endorsement of the President and Vice President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) for the first sitting of the next session this Monday.

President Mohamed Nasheed had nominated commission members Mariyam Azra as HRCM’s President an post and Aiminath Jeehaan as Vice President, however the matter was still in debate when the last session of parliament closed in August.

HRCM’s former President Ahmed Saleem last month condemned parliament’s inaction on the issue as “unforgivable”.

“It’s all because HRCM and human rights are not as important to the Majlis as taking their leave,” he told Minivan News.

“The Majlis is destroying this country and leaving the government incapable of doing anything.”

On Monday parliament will also vote on proposed amendments to the Finance Committee’s report on salaries, the Parole Bill, Bill on Importing Animals and Birds, the government’s amendment to the Decentralisation Bill and the Domestic Violence Bill.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Aishath Azra was nominated as HRCM’s President. This has been corrected to Mariyam Azra.

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Comment: New regulation on strikes lacks legality and would wipe out resort workers’ constitutional rights

Citizens in Maldives have recently won important rights. The 2008 constitution guarantees fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech and association. The constitution also guarantees the right to strike, which is an extremely important right for workers. Without the right to strike workers are left powerless. In dictatorships like Saudi Arabia or Burma, the denial of the right to strike is a key weapon in suppressing democracy.

However, it seems that employers in the Maldives, unsatisfied with workers finally having human and labour rights, are doing their best to convince the government to effectively deny those rights.

This has come to light with regard to a draft Ministerial regulation on strikes dated August 11, 2010. The working draft looks to have been written as a birthday present for the resort owners, so one-sided it effectively nullifies workers’ constitutional right to strike.

Does the Minister have the authority to make a regulation on strikes?

Before examining the details of the draft regulation, there is an even more glaring error: it is doubtful that the Minister actually has the authority to make the regulation under the present law.

The first clause of the working draft notes that the regulation is made according to clause 89 of the Employment Act of 2008. That clause states: “Unless otherwise provided in this Act, regulations required to administer this Act shall be made by the Minister.”

What is crucial in this clause is the phrase “administer this Act”. That means regulations can only to be made for matters that the Act has defined, thus regulates and thus are in need of administering.

The Employment Act is concerned with the conditions and regulations of workplaces and the contract relationships for the provision of labour which exist between an individual (a worker) and an employer (which might be a person or a firm). The Act also covers the individual’s entitlements (such as maternity leave, working hours etc).

However, the Employment Act does not mention anything to do with the collective rights of workers in employment or their regulation (such as rules regarding trade union rights in the workplace or trade union recognition).

Chapter 4 of the Act (“employment agreement”) does not mention collective agreements which would be signed by a trade union and an employer. The entire chapter concerns the employment of individuals.

Article 30 of the Constitution of Maldives guarantees the right to form trade unions, yet nowhere in the entire Act are trade unions mentioned. The closest the Act comes is in Clause 21(b)(vi) where discrimination against a worker (as an individual) for membership or activity in a “workers’ association” is declared unlawful.

The Act does not mention fundamental matters related to workers’ collective rights and employment such as trade union recognition, collective bargaining, collective agreements or industrial disputes.

As such, a question must be raised: how can a strike, which like all forms of industrial action by workers is a collective act, be administered by Ministerial regulation when the Act does not address the collective rights and acts of workers or trade unions?

The proposed regulation actually has nothing to do with the Employment Act at present. It is almost certainly unconstitutional. The only way a regulation might be appropriate would be if there were already chapters and clauses in the Employment Act dealing with the collective rights of workers and trade unions.

Wiping out the right to strike

As for the details of the regulation itself these would effectively mean that workers would have no ability to conduct a legal strike. Workers would be completely at the whim of the employer.

Clause 6 of the draft regulation would make it almost impossible for workers to reach a stage where they could go on strike. The regulation provides only an example of a Grievance Procedure, thus making the procedure voluntary. How such a Grievance Procedure is to be put in place and how it would work is left completely undefined. Employers are under no legal obligation to include good faith mechanisms or rights protections.

Given current employment practices in Maldives, workers could simply be dragged endlessly through a procedure which is designed not to produce a result and thus not arrive at any point where a strike could be called.

The regulation contains a stunning contradiction. The regulation defines a strike as “stopping work” yet Clause 8(c) forbids strikers “from disturb[ing] the services they provide or should not create any kind of difficulties in the mean[s] of strike.” This clause actually means workers cannot stop work, since by definition, when workers strike, they are withholding their labour and thus disturbing the services of the workplace.

Take the resorts: would a striking front-desk worker still required to check-in guests? Would a striking chef still be required to cook meals? Would a striking house-cleaner still be required to make beds? With this the employer could easily claim any strike is a disruption and thus the strike would be illegal.

This same vagueness is repeated in Clause 11(iv) of the regulations which forbids workers from “interfere[ing] with customers”. This is extraordinarily vague and would allow any employer to simply claim: by going on strike workers are “interfering” with customers and the strike would be deemed illegal.

Clause 9 of the regulation includes a number of professions who are excluded from the right to strike. International labour standards as governed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) are quite clear that with the exception of police and military, all other professions should retain the right to strike. It is doubtful that a regulation excluding so many professions would be acceptable under international human rights norms.

What to do?

It seems that this regulation, even if the Minister were to sign it, despite its clear breach of most international norms regarding workers fundamental rights, would have to ultimately be declared unconstitutional.

The Employment Act, does not give the Minister any authority to make regulations for matters not covered by the Act. Since strikes are a subset of workers’ collective rights and regulations to these rights are not mentioned in the Act, the Minister has no authority to make regulations to administer non-existent sections of the Act.

It is time for a serious rethink. Resort and hotel workers, in fact all workers, in the Maldives need a proper law which protects their collective rights to participate in trade unions, to collective bargaining and to industrial action. It solves nothing when short-cuts which must ultimately be found unconstitutional are tried.

Moreover, this regulation tramples on workers constitutional right to strike to such an extent it could become an international issue, placing Maldives in breach of its human rights commitments and the conventions of the International Labour Organisation.

The real reason that this regulation is being rushed through at this time is the resort owners in Maldives have consistently refused to recognise the collective rights of resort workers. Low wages, lack of transparency with distribution of the service charge, overwork and the high costs of living all remain unresolved problems for most workers.

Instead of engaging in genuine negotiations to resolve these matters with the Tourism Employees Assosiation of the Maldives (TEAM) – the resort workers union – the employers seek to rebuff TEAM at every opportunity.

TEAM is systematically denied recognition by the employers. The employers refuse to negotiate collectively and threaten workers. Workers are arrested and placed in jail at the behest of employers when they strike. Blacklists of known supporters of TEAM are maintained and distributed among employers. Despite these threats workers continue to exercise their constitutional right to strike because this is the only choice they have to resolve their interests. All other avenues are closed by the employers.

The best solution would be for the Government of Maldives to call for tripartite negotiations including TEAM and MATI, designed to reach an agreement for amendments to the Employment Act regarding trade union recognition, collective bargaining and industrial disputes. Or to produce an Industrial Relations Act regarding these matters. This would protect workers’ rights and produce clear and transparent mechanisms to allow for proper negotiations between TEAM and the resort owners and thus go a long way to resolving the root cause of strikes in the resort industry.

But a regulation with dubious constitutionality that effectively erases the right strike is in no one’s interests and will only harm Maldives’ international reputation in regard to democracy and human rights.

Dr Jasper Goss is Information and Research Officer with the Asia/Pacific regional organisation of the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF), the global trade union federation which represents resort, hotel, food and agriculture workers.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]


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Letter on bias

Dear Sir,

Being much interested in the Maldives, I read your internet newspaper quite often. However, I want to let you know that I was recently quite disappointed with your publication regarding two recent articles, both of them about events in Noonu Velidhoo.

The first one, about the arrest of a certain Abbas, because of the illegal possession of alcohol.

You write:

“Deputy leader of DRP, Umar Naseer, said Abbas was not the leader of DRP’s Noonu Atoll wing.

“He’s just a normal DRP member, an activist,” said Umar.

”I have idea how this happened, but I know he did not drink, because his breath-test results were negative to alcohol.”

Umar said there were no alcoholics in the opposition DRP, and claimed that there “were only alcoholics in the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).”

Well… if you had checked other sources in Velidhoo, and there are many, you would have heard that this Abbas is for sure, and still is today, one (if not the most prominent) of the leaders of the local DRP indeed.

Not up to me to judge about his political activities, but the facts are there.

But more disturbing to me is that you publish that last sentence, where Mr Umar says that alcoholics are only within the MDP. Again I have no judgement as such on this, but as far as know, there has never been anyone from the (local) MDP in Noonu Velidhoo who has been involved in anything to do with illegal alcohol, nor the use of it, or the illegal trade of it.

I have also not said that DRP are alcoholics. The fact remains is that Abbas [allegedly] got caught with alcohol and he is very much involved indeed in the local DRP. A simple Google search shows enough of that.

I cannot understand that you just publish such a political, and very much insulting, statement from a DRP leader about his opponents. I do not understand that you don’t even ask the people who are obviously accused by such a statement, the MDP, that you don’t even ask them for a reply on such statements.

It’s far from objective writing, its more like a political manifesto. Neutral journalism requests to her both sides, to check sources.

The second article is about the suicide of a 24 year-old man in the same Noonu Velidhoo.

There you quote an island official as saying:

“According to what most of the islanders are saying, he had this problem with his girlfriend’s father; he had not been accepted by him. He lived together on the island with his girlfriend from Male’ and they were about to get married, but her Dad sent a letter to the court saying he would not give the consent for the marriage to take place.”

Well well …. “most of the islanders are saying …. “, you give impression, by quoting the official, that you have done a kind of survey even … “most islanders”?

I am very close to the family involved… and NONE of them would ever agree that the disagreement of the father of the girl was the reason of his suicide.

The facts are: indeed the guy had a relationship with the girl, and indeed her father did not approve of that at all. Which happened already TWO months ago. But the couple, though feeling bit sad with that, had already decided last July to approach the court about this and their marriage was approved already!

Again you published an opinion without even asking the people who were involved. It would have been piece of cake to ask the opinion of the family themselves.

It’s such a pity in the ongoing process to a real democracy in our country.

Sincerely,

Aiminath

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter piece, please submit it to [email protected]
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Comment: Kitchen maids step out to business and up to leadership

It was 3:00 pm in the afternoon last Ramazan when someone called and asked me to do a translation. He said that I could charge for the work. I told him to mail it to me so that I could have a look.

What I got was a five page contract with legal terms to be translated from English to Dhivehi, and it had to be done by that night. I called up and quoted him my official price and he flipped out.

“Oh man,” he said, “you are crazy. I am doing this for a friend. Go to the kitchen. It is time to cook for breaking the fast.”

My mind raced! Would he have said something similar in the same tone to a man?

Kitchen maids step out to business and up to leadership!

I grew up with a mother who sold material and tailored to earn money. She worked from home. In many households while men are the official breadwinners, the women work from home to earn an income to make ends meet.

Today farmers in the islands are made up of 60 percent women. In other words, women in the Maldives have a long history of entrepreneurship. When I was growing up, there were a couple of ladies in trading and I saw them in the man’s world. I wonder how they felt and what kind of challenges they had. Today with Maldives advancing into the modern world, more Maldivian women have stepped out into the business world.

Globally, the 1920s were a turning point for women to move from traditional roles to modern ideas. In these years the role of women changed, with gender-defined work such as cooks, dressmakers and farm hands moving to professional and technical jobs like doctors, bankers, lawyers etc. Still today, even in the most developed countries, there are conservatives who find it hard to digest this and feel a woman’s place is at home.

The prevalent environment in Maldives is tough for a woman who wants to run a business. I am a social entrepreneur and I started out on my own in 1999. As a woman I have experienced many hurdles, and I am going to highlight here common issues enterprising women face in the Maldives.

Women entrepreneurs find it a big challenge to get people to take them seriously. Women seeking loans beyond micro-financing have difficulties obtaining funds, even with collateral. I know the case of a woman who offered collateral of her two houses to the Bank of Maldives (managed by women) some years ago and she was refused a loan. When her husband went to the Bank with the same business plan and same collateral (with mortgage rights signed over by the woman), it was accepted.

When women hold meetings, many men do not listen to the business idea a woman is selling. Horrendous suggestions such as meeting late at night and in private environments are an indication of this lack of seriousness among men. It is often seen in the light of a favor she is asking. If I am accompanied by a male to a meeting, I still find him being addressed more than me though it is my business.

Sense of guilt

My female colleagues and entrepreneurs also speak of the “guilt issues” that come into play and which limit their success. Guilt for investing time away from the family, guilt for becoming more financially secure than family and friends, guilt for earning more than a spouse and guilt for being successful.

To make it worse, husbands and partners who cannot digest the success of a woman accuse her of receiving favours. Some people (men and women, friends and family) actually think that a woman who wants to start a business is just looking for something to do as a “hobby”.

Women are trained since childhood to work behind the scenes, to not make a fuss, and to take care of others first. Girls grow up in “female” roles with housework prioritised above studies, and the notion that she will marry a good man to have a life.

The contribution of women to financial stability is treated of secondary importance especially when that money is generated at home. Women’s contribution is not documented in the national statistics either. Women in entrepreneurship struggle to improve conditions that support enterprise development at national level.

The Women Entrepreneurs Council (WEC) was initially under the umbrella of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and was dissolved three years ago without the WEC itself being notified. The move was part of a calculated change in the Executive Board to push out chamber board members, including distinguished and dedicated men committed to economic development of the country. and who supported the Wec.

The media (including Minivan News) ignored the case (with evidence) that the WEC presented, and the report did not appear in the daily newspapers or on the television. The Registrar of the Home Ministry at the time ignored the evidence. The Attorney General (on a personal level) made an aimless attempt to look into the issue that compromised women. Today the documents lie on the table of the present Chamber President who considers an internal audit of the time (with the last five years) possible but has not had the time to look at them.

The documents are in the Ministry of Home Affairs waiting for the present Registrar’s attention. Three registrars have changed since the documents were submitted and the present Registrar has promised to lend us an ear.

The WEC was just beginning to stand on its feet with a successful trial record of development and half a million Rufiya in its account, a solid development plan for four years and a potential contract with UNDP, when the Council was crippled by the Board of the time.

Earlier this year, His Excellency the Vice President listened to the story but it remains one without an end. The President’s staff have been scheduling a meeting with the leadership of the ex-WEC for the last two and half years.

Women experience sexist banter, demeaning comments and exclusionary behavior and continue to push for conditions where they can do business in a politically and socially fair environment.

Assumptions about women, such as in my introductory paragraph, view women as inferior business professionals. Expectations on pricing and wages – with the implication that women lack professionalism – are abusive.

Women tend to devalue their skills, abilities and experience more than men do. Women must value their offerings in order for customers and prospects to value them. The ability to be compensated well for the value a woman provides lies squarely on her ability to look the customer/prospect in the eye and state, with confidence, that it’s worth the price she is charging. So my fees remain… discounts come only after quotation.

Ownership and control of an enterprise by a woman is a big thing. Most women entrepreneurs are very compassionate and caring people, thus bringing complimentary value to business. While women want to express their skill and talent to the world, they should also possess the qualities of devotion, innovation and the capabilities of management and control, lessons that can be learnt from enterprising men. Women are great networkers, tenacious, and are great at relationships, so there is no hurdle too big to overcome.

Once on an interview, a producer of a VillaTV program wanted the presenter to question me about whether a woman would have time to take care of her family obligations if she was engaged outside home. In my opinion, the word obligation puts conditions on women that are interpreted by someone else. A woman should define her priorities and balance her life between work and family. This is one of the hardest challenges for a woman entrepreneur even in developed countries.

To break the ice, women have to put themselves forward and overcome a lifetime of behavioral training – a daunting task for many of us. Men remove one hat before putting on another. Work is work, play is play and family is family. Women insist on wearing all their hats at once and are determined to balance them all. When we enter into business mode, we are still mothers, wives and friends. We are easily distracted by our many other priorities and find it challenging to focus all our attention on one area at a time. Focus ladies!

To be successful as an entrepreneur a woman must be independent, humble, highly successful at personal growth and, for the most part, non-emotional. As a male colleague noted the other day, one big challenge a woman has are the other women who don’t understand her – her values and drive.

It was evident at the Validation Workshop in October 2009 held in Holiday Inn where I sat at a round table with women from the Ministry of Health trying to bring in the perspective of women from private sector into the national plans. The barrier I faced was so impenetrable that I had to get the Counsel of UN facilitator to talk to them to include some of my suggestions.

Women must be bolder and demand respect by showing their success. To receive respect, women should be respectful. To be respectful, women should work with values and rules that shows her principles such as using formal friendly language (a great way to draw the line between personal and professional relationships), staying firm and focused in discussions displaying a professional attitude, keeping meetings to working hours and if necessary stretch to early evenings but not late night hours, setting the latest reachable hour to business contacts by phone, meet in open public places or office during working hours, establish a code for no physical relationships with staff and potential business partners, learn to draw the line when people get abusive or suggestive at meetings, stop mothering when dealing with male business colleagues (sorry ladies but I observe this happening) and dressing professionally.

Women should always be upfront and transparent about their professional experience and what they have accomplished. Upon doing so, people can no longer have ignorant assumptions of women. So women out there, it takes every core of your being to stand above these who choose to talk about people, so you can walk instead with those who prefer to discuss ideas.

Aminath Arif is the Founder of SALAAM School.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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