THE Zimbabwe United Passengers Company (Zupco) is yet to pay pensions and terminal benefits for employees retrenched as far back as 1982 and when the former workers went to protest at the company’s Bulawayo Khami depot yesterday, management ordered security to lock them out.
BY SILAS NKALA
The 215 ex-workers — retrenched between 1982 and 2010 — found the gates locked, although police had cleared the demonstration, which is expected to run until tomorrow.
Former Zupco national workers’ union chairperson, Lucas Munyika said security personnel locked the gates when they saw the group approaching.
“We will sit here even if they have locked us outside the company, which shows that they are not interested to hear us and are not willing to assist us,” he said.
“They are making us look stupid, but we will not leave this place for the next two days. We want the chief executive officer, Zion Muwoni to come and address us or send someone with authority to talk to us over our concerns.
“If they fail to address us over these three days, we will take it further until our concerns are addressed.”
Munyika accused Zupco of failing to remit their pension contributions to Fidelity Life Pension Fund between 2006 and 2010.
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“This has a negative effect to pensioners because Fidelity Life is refusing to pay us our pensions until Zupco has paid over $3 million it owes the pension fund as per end of 2015,” he said.
“This has also affected those pensioners, who had all their dues forwarded to Fidelity Life before 2005.”
Zupco southern division human resources manager, Nigel Kufakwatenzi declined to comment on the industrial action, saying he was on study leave.
Kufakwatenzi referred Southern Eye to Muwoni, whose mobile phone went unanswered, while the parastatal’s landlines in Harare also went unanswered.
