The government of Cameroon has pledged to support the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, in paying wages and arrear wages of its workers.
The promise was made during a tripartite meeting that held in Yaounde on February 02, 2021 between the Government, CDC Management and Trade Union Leaders.
It was chaired by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Gregoire Owona.
The meeting came at a moment when CDC workers were planning a four days strike (February 02_ 05) in all CDC Estates, Factories, Mills and Establishments to express their grievances, particularly those who have gone for 30 months without salaries.
“The discussion focused on concerns raised by Trade Union Leaders and particularly by the Cameroon Agricultural and Allied Workers Trade Union (CAAWOTU) contained in their correspondence dated 12 th January 2021, and on the avenues to arrive at solutions to the crisis,” stated the Labour Minister Gregoire Owona in a press release co-signed by eight others after the conference.
CDC has about twenty thousand workers, with a monthly wage bill of about FCFA 2.5 million.
The anglophone crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic has come to worsen the economic situation of the corporation.
The president of CAAWOTU, Gabriel Mbene Vefonge, laments that some workers have gone for two and a half years without salaries.
“Since the start of 2018, some 20 workers have been murdered in their line of duty while others have had their hands or fingers chopped off with machetes. Workers have not received their monthly salaries for close to 30 months and over 10,000 workers have been placed on technical leave, not leaving out retired workers who are yet to receive their retirement benefits,” Mbene said
In a bit to remedy this situation, the Government has promised to take care of workers salaries and even arrears.
“The Government has pledged to support the CDC Management in the payment of wages and the monthly payment of arrears in the days ahead,” Minister Gregoire Owona said, adding that;
“The security issue will be looked into by competent administrations.”
These workers now hope the Government will fulfill her promise.
Trade Union leaders on their part have enjoined the workers to put in their utmost efforts to revamp the CDC corporation.
Meantime, another meeting will be held in three months time to evaluate the implication of the decisions of this tripartite meeting.
