BY NHAU MANGIRAZI
Zimbabwe Diamonds and Allied Mine Workers Union (ZDAWMU) has challenged the government-controlled Kuvimba Mining House’s bid to fire underground workers at Jena Mines in the Midlands province.
Jena, a gold mine, is situated about 80km north of Kwekwe.
ZDAWMU secretary-general Justice Chinhema said the move to send 140 workers home was illegal.
‘‘When Kuvimba House Mining came in, they over-employed, which they are now failing to sustain. The termination of their employment is not fair in that most of the affected are underground workers who by law are deemed permanent,’’ Chinhema said.
He said some of the affected workers had been hired for a few weeks before they got termination letters.
‘‘To be honest, some of them had worked for only two to three weeks and now they are being fired. This is unfair labour practice,’’ he said.
“Some of these workers were by law permanent in terms of Statutory Instrument (SI) 109 of 1993 after working for several months or years at the mine. The SI adds that underground production workers must be permanently engaged.”
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The affected workers were told to report to the human resources manager to discuss their terminal benefits.
The manager Joseph Chitendere said he was not in a position to comment on the matter.
“We don’t discuss the mine operations through the media,’’ he said.
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