Is It Time He Quits?
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The R5.00 Voice of the Labour Movement Estab ilshed 1988 Issue No: 220 DEC 2014 - JAUNARY 2015 Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper Labour Court finalises US$ compensation impasse No respite P 5 to job losses No festive BY ADMORE MARAMBANYIKA here is no respite to job joy for losses in the country as Tmore than 55 000 workers have been offloaded workers over the past four years owing to massive deindustrialisation, retrenchments and company as bonuses closures despite high sounding job creation promises by the government. fly past The figures reveal an average of 13 500 workers annually , 1125 monthly and 37 daily losing jobs at a time the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) had promised about 2.2 million in five years . Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa revealed the job losses figures in his 2015 budget announcement and implored on the P 7 Dilapidation of infrastructure and overgrown vegetation are now a common feature at most company government to implement premises following years of inactivity that has rendered thousands of workers jobless. ZimAsset to curb the job losses. Is it time The Zimbabwe Congress of which the government is in owing stemmed as long as structural branches. Trade Unions (ZCTU) Secretary to its resistance to reform. challenges affecting the economy 'There are some companies that General Japhet Moyo said the “The government is allergic to are not addressed. The government report their figures to the ministry announcement by Chinamasa was reforms and does not want to needs to commit itself to serious of labour and as a board we he quits? an admission by the government separate party politics and the reforms and should not expect approximate the number to be that it had failed to create administration of the country. The overnight results but something around 25 percent of recorded employment. country requires urgent reforms but needs to be done. A lot of workers figures with the Retrenchment “Finally the minister has agreed as it stands three quarters of are being retrenched but the figures board. We also approximate that a with the figures that the government is not functioning cannot be quantified because some further 20 percent is unrecorded. government has been disputing owing to factional party fights. The are not registering with The figure of job losses could be over the years. This is the first time scenario spells doom to labour as authorities,” he said. well over 10 000 but some cases go Page 16 that a government official has we do not see any change or The Retrenchment Board had unreported,” said the source. given a correct analysis is relation reversal of the status quo,” he said. officially registered 4769 A recent study conducted by to job losses in the country. The Moyo said the government retrenchments by the end of Zimbabwe Economic Policy admission now shows that the should step up with practical November with sources saying Analysis and Research Unit government is clueless on how it solutions to job losses instead of more workers could have been (ZEPARU) and the Labour and has to solve the problem of selling dummies to the population. chopped off with Zimasco leading Economic Development Research unemployment,” said Moyo. “The wave of company closures the chop for November after laying Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ) He said the shocking figures and retrenchments would not be off 400 from its Kwekwe Smelter, P16 reveal the dysfunctional state in Shurugwi and Mutorashanga To page 7 Page 2 The Worker, DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 ZDAWU calls for domestication of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work BY DICKSON CHAERUKA influence national laws and policies on decent work for HE Zimbabwe Domestic domestic workers,'' she said. and Allied Workers ZCTU Legal Advisor, Zakeyo TUnion (ZDAWU) Mtimtema said ratification and embarked on a nationwide domestication of the ILO campaign to lobby the convention helps in monitoring government to ratify and the plight of domestic workers in domesticate the International the country at international level. Labour Organisation (ILO) Facilitating at the same Convention 189 on decent work workshop, Mtimtema stated that for domestic workers. the Convention was adopted after ZDAWU, in conjunction with a realisation that domestic workers the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade were marginalised especially in Unions (ZCTU) and the Freidrich developing countries where their Ebert Stiftung (FES) facilitated work is undervalued and invisible awareness training with domestic hence prone to discrimination in workers countrywide aimed at respect of conditions of work as capacitating them with the well as other human rights abuses. th convention adopted on the 16 of He stated that the convention June 2011 by the world's largest set minimum standards aimed at labour body. according domestic workers a Presenting at one of the training decent working environment. workshops organised at a local ''Article 3 of the Convention, in hotel in the eastern border town of relation to domestic workers, The ZDAWU leadership and domestic workers at the just ended workshop in Mutare Mutare recently, ZCTU Head of recommends the respect, Women and Gender Department, promotion and realisation of the Ruyi revealed that the union sector. There is also a need to state Fiona Magaya stated that, the decent work in trade unions as well fundamental principles and rights scheduled to realign its industry's abuses and its various forms in the campaign exercise, carried out as labour law reform. at work which include; freedom of Collective Bargaining Agreement CBA,'' he said. under the theme;'' Campaign for Participants had also an association and the effective (CBA) with some of the Speaking at the same occasion, Decent Work and Gender Equality opportunity to elect a branch recognition of the right to recommended provisions set out in ZDAWU Treasurer, Benjamin for Domestic Workers'', seeks to committee representing the collective bargaining, the the international decent work Mangirazi added that the union strengthen the voice of domestic Eastern Region. elimination of all forms of forced Convention for domestic workers. was also lobbying for registration workers in the country to stand up One of the participants hailed or compulsory labour, the ''We found that there is a need to of domestic workers agencies and demand their rights. the programme saying they were elimination of discrimination in update our current CBA to fully revealing that there were a nuclear '' We are carrying out an afforded a lifetime opportunity respect of employment and capture the aspirations for decent of unregistered agencies in awareness on the ILO Convention which awakened them. occupation as well as the effective work for workers in Zimbabwe as operation that were abusing 189 and the rights of domestic ''For the first time i feel abolition of child labour,'' he said. set out in the ILO Convention. We domestic workers. workers. Essentially, we are important and proud of my job ZDAWU General Secretary, need to specify the need for decent The two day workshop was strategising on effective ways of after this capacitation. We were in Hilarious Ruyi, also presenting at accommodation in the CBA. attended by gardeners and mobilising domestic workers in the dark and we would like to urge the workshop, reiterated that the There is a need to specify a job housekeepers drawn from lobbying for the ratification and the facilitators to continue union would seriously engage the description in the employment different residential areas around domestication of the convention in empowering us with such nice government for the ratification contracts. We also need to put on Mutare. They were taken through Zimbabwe. This training orients work,'' she said. and domestication of the board the provision of social fundamental topics which the union members on how to Convention in the country. security covering workers in the included; gender equality and NER to rejuvenate districts Ministry of Transport failing to pay BY STAFF REPORTER he ZCTU North-eastern Region held its last quarterly meeting for 2014 which called for the rejuvenation of district structures Tto increase visibility. The meeting was also held at the backdrop of limited participation by Birchenough traffic controllers districts in the region owing to several reasons ranging from resignations of executive members to sabotage. salaries. salaries from our Head Office in BY DICKSON CHAERUKA Harare but unfortunately we have The regional Chairperson Jokoniah Mawopa called for maximum They also revealed that they have cooperation and revamping of non-functional structures in the districts to raffic controllers not been issued with payslips since not received anything currently. The head office once promised to steer the movement ahead. employed under the their various dates of engagement. “We have noticed that some districts are no longer well constituted while Ministry of Roads and The workers, most of who were clear off all the arrears by this year T end,'' he said insisting that further others are no longer functional at all,” he said. Infrastructure Development at engaged in 1995, complained that questions should be directed to the He said the region is looking at strategies to rejuvenate the districts and Birchenough Bridge have gone they have been made to sign three spur them towards being active. for over a year without salaries months contracts for over the years Ministry's Legal Department in Harare. “We want to increase our visibility and we want our districts to start and are subjected to a host of and they recently established that holding separate commemorations for our calendar events. The challenge other unfair labour practices by their management have not been The workers confirmed that they had reported the case at the that we get is that some of our districts are overshadowed by the Harare their employer. deducting statutory deduction district when it comes to national commemorations,' said Mawopa.