Drivers to resume strike tomorrow

The Professional Drivers Union says its members will start another strike as government has not yet addressed agreements the two parties made.

Government through the ministry of Transport agreed to address the drivers concerns after another strike last year.

But according to a statement signed by the Union’s Secretary General Mphatso Mollen, government has failed to deliver on what they agreed.

Among other issues, government agreed to the drivers’ demands to reduce passport fees from K120 000 to K60 000, a minimum salary for local drivers to be at K100 000 and K140 000 for international, that shippers must prioritize Malawian transporters when lodding goods for transit and that NOCMA start loading Malawi trucks in Tanzania by December 2020.

But according to Mollen, no promise has been fulfilled and they have since resorted to another strike starting tomorrow.

“Now after all these concerns, we hereby notify all parties that effect Wednesday 15, July 2021, there shall be no any Professional Driver who will drive on the roads of Malawi. They will all stay out of work until all raised concerns have been resolved” – reads part of the statement.