GWERU City Council workers have threatened to take industrial action against their employer over outstanding salaries, the Southern Eye has learnt. Stephen Chadenga OWN CORRESPONDENT
The workers, who staged a sit-in last Wednesday, said they would wait until Friday and if their salary arrears were not paid by then, they would down tools in protest.
Council employees have not been paid for the past three months as the cash-strapped council struggles to raise revenue.
Zimbabwe Urban Council Workers’ Union chairperson for Gweru, Erasmus Ndonga, blamed the local authority’s management for not prioritising the employees’ working conditions, accusing them of splashing money on luxuries and trinkets.
“We last got paid in July and the employer has been shifting goal posts on the 30% increment awarded to workers,” he said.
“If we are not paid by tomorrow (last Friday), we are left with no option but to seek the legal route before embarking on a full industrial action.”
Since dollarisation in 2009, the municipality has been failing to pay workers on time and only started paying December bonuses last May to the lower grades.
Town clerk Daniel Matawu and mayor Hamutendi Kombayi were not available for comment yesterday, but the mayor has previously said the local authority was committed to meeting its salary obligations.
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Last May, workers again threatened to embark on a strike over the late payment of salaries, but backtracked following an appeal for patience from Kombayi, who said the council was making frantic efforts to raise income.
