Riverside Primary School in Gweru has failed to comply with a settlement agreement to pay its non-teaching staff six months’ salary arrears, as well as underpayments accrued during the same period, Southern Eye has established.
BY Stephen Chadenga
In September last year, the workers referred their case for conciliation and signed a certificate of settlement with their employer at the Gweru labour offices, where the parties agreed that salary arrears and underpayments would be cleared by end of October and December last year respectively.
“It was resolved by agreement of the parties on October 5, 2016 and further that the terms of agreement are as follows: The parties agreed that the underpayment will be cleared by end of December 2016 and that salary arrears will be cleared by end of October 2016,” part of the settlement agreement read.
But the workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they only got paid in September after they last received slashed salaries in May last year.
They accused the school headmaster, Willie Mtombeni of threatening them with dismissal and other unspecified action should they continue voicing their concerns.
“We were paid in May last year and when we referred our case to labour in September, we then got paid for that month (September) only and the other months from June to December are yet to be settled,” one worker said.
Mtombeni said: “Talk to the workers who told you that.”
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The school development association chairperson, Lovemore Muzoroza said he does not discuss such issues in the media.
“If you were from labour, I would have talked to you, not from a newspaper,” he said.
