Guru Holdings workers strike

Economy
WORKERS at Guru Holdings, formerly known as Freda Gold Mine in Gwanda, embarked on a one-day strike to force management to settle outstanding salaries.

WORKERS at Guru Holdings, formerly known as Freda Gold Mine in Gwanda, embarked on a one-day strike on Wednesday to force management to settle outstanding salaries.

SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER

The workers called off the industrial action on Thursday after meeting the management, which made an undertaking to start settling outstanding three months’ pay within three weeks.

A worker who spoke to Southern Eye on Friday said the strike forced management to engage them on Thursday.

Guru Holdings currently employs 140 workers.

Besides the non-payment of salaries, workers were protesting lack of safe working conditions at the mine as well as demanding overtime allowances.

“We met the managing director Innocent Gona, mine manager Christopher Muyapvu and other management staff who asked us to return to work promising that they would pay all our three months’ salary arrears within three weeks,” the worker said.

The worker added that they returned to work, but openly told the management if their promises were not fulfilled, they would simply down tools again.

The National Union of Mines, Quarry Iron and Steel Workers of Zimbabwe organising secretary Onious Munenga, representing the disgruntled workers, confirmed the stand-off.

Munenga said the situation had deteriorated at the locally-owned mine as workers had gone for three months without pay and are not paid overtime allowance, as they sometimes are made to work for more than 12 hours.

“The situation at the mine is very bad,” Munenga said.

“After the workers’ efforts to engage employers peacefully proved fruitless.

“They were left with no other option but to take industrial action which ended on Thursday after the employer engaged them.”

He said workers know the mine was making money and it boggled the mind why they were not paid and being made to work in such dangerous conditions.

In November last year, the mine retrenched 44 workers. It went on to re-engage 28 of the retrenched workers and promised to settle salaries and benefits of the remaining 16 by the end of April.

Munenga called on the government to probe indigenous miners to find out why they were enslaving workers.

He said it had become the norm for most indigenous employers to abuse their workforce and renege on paying salaries.

Gona was not reachable for comment when Southern Eye phoned him for a comment.

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