MASVINGO City Council has appealed to the Supreme Court challenging a Labour Court order compelling it to pay over $3 million in workers’ salary arrears.
BY ALOIS VINGA
The council filed the appeal on March 12 this year after Labour Court judge Justice Euna Makamure ruled in favour of the workers and ordered the local authority to pay salary arrears amounting to US$3 571 295,34.
The labour wrangle has been raging since September 2008 with the council contesting successive rulings made by the arbitrator and Labour Court. In January 2011, the Labour Court made a default judgment after council representatives failed to turn up for the hearing.
In August of the same year, the council filed another application for rescission of the default judgment, but the court dismissed the application on the basis that the heads of argument submitted appeared fabricated.
This prompted the Zimbabwe Urban Councils’ Workers’ Union to apply for registration of the award in 2012 under HC Case 4011/11.
However, the local authority opposed the registration, but the court could not accept the opposing papers because the latter’s heads of argument were not properly written.
In the same year, High Court judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi granted the application for registration of the award resulting in the attachment of council vehicles.
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Since then the matter has been shuttling between the Supreme and Labour courts while council vehicles remain attached.
