The hypocrisy of the government’s pledge to protect workers in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling that gave employers the latitude to fire workers without benefits has been laid bare in the stampede by parastatals to fire employees.
At least 12 000 employees have been fired since the ruling in the case between Zuva Petroleum and two of its former managers less than three weeks ago.
The government promised to come up with legal instruments to protect workers who are being forced out of their jobs without benefits and appealed to employers to exercise restraint.
However, since last week parastatals and quasi-government departments such as the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe and National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) have taken full advantage of the Supreme Court ruling to send hundreds of workers home.
Air Zimbabwe and NRZ have not been paying workers for years, but have become the first among parastatals to make full use of the ruling.
NRZ last week reportedly fired 350 workers and has targeted over 1 200 for the axe.
The struggling parastatal has been accused of targeting those who are vocal and has closed some departments, citing poor performance of the economy.
NRZ has not paid salaries backdated to last year and the targeted workers are going home empty-handed.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The parastatal could not even consider the fact that the workers have been loyal during turbulent times where they have gone for several months without salaries.
The job cuts also appear to be a vindictive crusade as the parastatals have targeted union leaders who led protests against late payments in the past.
On the other hand, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has fired all its provincial managers who took the institution to court demanding backpay and this exposes the insincerity of these job cuts.
Some government officials such as Industry minister Mike Bimha and his Finance counterpart Patrick Chinamasa have publicly endorsed the job carnage.
Bimha last week said the exercise would help companies to return to financial health as they shed off excess staff.
Chinamasa said the job cuts would help start a conversation about Zimbabwe’s labour market, which he strongly feels is rendered uncompetitive by laws that favour workers and punish investors.
But the ministers are missing the point because the issue is not about employers getting rid of redundant workers, but the manner in which the companies are going about the exercise.
Some workers who have been loyal to employers for over 20 years are going home empty-handed at a time ordinary people can no longer save for rainy days.
Most of the companies that are shedding workers have not been paying statutory obligations such as pensions and this would further complicate the lives of those affected by the job cuts.
If the government was sincere about mitigating the effects of the Supreme Court ruling, it would have restrained parastatals and other State institutions from firing workers willy-nilly.
Delays by Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Prisca Mupfumira in coming up with legal instruments to protect the workers at the mercy of employers does not inspire confidence that the government has an idea what it should do about this crisis.
