Labour and Social Security Minister Joyce Simukoko has called on trade unions to come up with reasonable minimum wages as they discuss the revision of minimum wages for various sectors.

Mrs. Simukoko says the purpose of the minimum wage statutory instruments is to protect the vulnerable workers and ensure that they are covered in terms of wages and conditions of service.

Speaking during the tripartite consultative Labour Council meeting in Lusaka, Mrs. Simukoko says government is aware that most employees are in the informal sector which lacks union representation.

She says the intended revision of the minimum wage is therefore affecting the majority of workers in the country

And Mrs. Simukoko has appealed to employers to have a heart to look at their workers as deserving a good wage.

She also disclosed that government is in a process of formulating statutory instruments for other sectors such as Construction, Hospitality and the Media.

And Mrs. Simukoko has clarified that workers earning 3, 300 kwacha and below are exempted from paying tax.

Speaking at the same event, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) President Chishimba Nkole revealed that the workers have lost over 41 percent of their real incomes between 2012 and end of 2017.

Mr. Nkole says this implies that they can only buy about 59 percent of the basket of goods they were able to buy six years ago.

He has since urged government and employers to reflect on the reality and circumstances of the employees who are affected by the regulations they are reviewing.

Meanwhile International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Director for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, Alexio Musindo has called on the Unions to develop a minimum wage setting mechanism that responds to the needs of various parties and contributes to national development.