Ministry steps in as two entities file for Employers’ Confederation name

Will the real Ethiopian Employers’ Confederation please stand up? That’s what the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) is asking after they received documents from separate entities with that name.
Last week two meetings were held at the Sheraton Addis and InterContinental Addis hotels with both groups claiming they were launching the Ethiopian Employers’ Confederation.
The Sheraton meeting was called by the old Ethiopian Employers’ Federation (EEF) which is run by Tadele Yimer and the InterContinental meeting conducted by a new group the federation of Hotel, Small and Medium  Enterprises, water and sewerage service providers and the Amhara and Addis Ababa Employers’ Federations.
During both meetings Hirut Woldmariam (Phd) Minister of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) did not attend even though she was invited. But the Sheraton meeting was attended by President Mulatu Teshome (Phd).
Fikadu Gebru, Industry Peace Relation Director at MoLSA told Capital that the Ministry will announce its findings after it commences its investigation.
“We will determine if both confederations are made up of legal federations or not, we will investigate their working process and will say something after we are finished. If both pass our investigation they can both be confederations and the one who applied first will be the Ethiopian Employers’ Confederation.’’
Capital asked Fikadu how the Ministry will work if two confederations are operational in the country.
“It will  not be a  problem for us if we have two or more confederations the confederation with more members will be stronger and will have more contact with the government.”
Tadele Yimer head of EEF told the press last Thursday that EEF has encompassed regional federation, Women’s Business Federation and other federations to form  the confederations.
“Our plan to establishthe confederation was made three years ago, we are happy for others to join us, we don’t want to quarrel, we want to make a difference” he told the gathering.
Capital asked Tadele why EEF does not have term limits for the head.
“It is not a political election, it is an election based on willingness. The president does not get any money, people may not be happy about some of our work but it is better to sit in a chair and solve our problems rather than talking outside.”
Feteh Woldesenbet who is the Vice President of the certification seeking, Ethiopian Employers’ Confederation said that their new confederation has the right documents to be legalized.
“A Confederation is a group of federations. We have five federations out of the six legal federations in the country.” In his previous exclusive interview with Capital he said“We don’t have a right to strengthen another federation as we all are equal level federations. The old Employers Federation can’t be a confederation unless it is combined with the other federations as the legal ground permits.”In Ethiopia more than two associations can make a federation and more than two federations can make a confederation.