THE Labour Court has ruled that the three-week strike by Dunlop Zimbabwe workers is illegal.
Own Correspondent
In a disposal order granted Monday, Labour Court judge president Justice Mercy Matshanga ordered the workers to return to work immediately.
“A disposal order is hereby granted permanently directing that the unlawful job action be terminated with effect from the date of receipt of the show cause order,” she ruled.
According to the ruling, Dunlop workers were supposed to have given their employer a 14-day notice before the job boycott. The strike started on July 12 after management reportedly failed to honour a ruling from an arbitrator giving the company 14 days to negotiate for a salary increase with workers.
The lowest paid worker at the tyre manufacturing company earns a gross salary of $108 a month. Dunlop workers were pushing for at least $250 as minimum wage.
However, management refused to entertain their proposals saying the company was facing serious financial problems. Last week, the company slashed salaries of the striking workers by 41% as punishment for embarking on the strike.
Some of the workers who spoke to Southern Eye Business, said they were paid as little as $60 for July after deductions. “We were paid peanuts this month after the company deducted our salaries to compensate for the time lost during the strike,” one of the disgruntled workers said.
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Justice Matshanga in her ruling, said the workers cannot challenge the deductions while management can also not take disciplinary action for their job boycott.
Dunlop employs over 300 people and has been struggling to pay their salaries since dollarisation. The workers claim that they have not been awarded any salary increment since 2009 despite the rising cost of living. Twitter feedback @mudarikirig
