Marvo stationery in turmoil

ABOUT 50 workers of Marvo Stationery Manufacturers who have gone for 16 months without being paid on Friday stormed the management’s offices demanding their salaries.

ABOUT 50 workers of Marvo Stationery Manufacturers who have gone for 16 months without being paid on Friday stormed the management’s offices demanding their salaries.

MTHANDAZO NYONI OWN CORRESPONDENT

Marvo-Demostartors

The workers also wanted clarification on what happened to the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) loan given to Marvo.

The struggling company benefited from Dimaf in 2012.

The disgruntled workers told Southern Eye Business, management only paid them $50 last month after going for more than ten months without getting salaries.

“We came here in the morning (on Friday) hoping that we would get our salaries, but we were told that there was no money,” one worker who identified himself as Mbonisi Gumbo said.

“After realising that there was nothing coming up we demanded to speak to the management, but to no avail because the managers ran away from us. We need our monies like yesterday because we cannot be working without getting anything,” Gumbo added.

“We want to know what happened to Dimaf because the company benefited. The government should intervene and establish what happened to that money because Marvo management didn’t use it to revive this company for the benefit of workers.”

Another worker said the company also borrowed $180 000 from a local financial institution with intentions of reviving the firm.

“We took our case to the High Court, but what is disturbing is the fact that the management has started registering all company assets including the firm building under Browns retailer so that even if we win the case in court we would fail to attach anything.

“Three quarters of Marvo workers are pensioners, but they cannot retire because they are owed thousands of dollars. Some are over 80 and aged, but they walk 6km to and from work daily,” the worker added.

Workers said the company applied to National Employment Council seeking to reduce their working days. Contacted for comment, Marvo managing director Saul Mashamba said the situation was being exacerbated by a comatose economy.

The company last year sent its workers on forced unpaid leave citing the unavailability of raw materials within the factory.  This resulted in workers staging an industrial action and taking the company to court.

Marvo has been struggling with low capitalisation and has for the past year been failing to pay packages of some employees it retrenched.

The company is failing to remit workers’ contributions to the National Social Security Authority as required by the laws leaving relatives of deceased former workers equally destitute.