THE National Mine Worker’s Union of Zimbabwe (NMWUZ) has urged mine workers in the country to report cases of abuse at work amid revelations that such cases are rampant especially at Chinese owned companies.
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In an interview with Southern Eye Business yesterday, NMWUZ treasurer Ernest Gumbo said his union had received many cases of workers being abused by employers at work. He encouraged workers to come forward to report those cases so that perpetrators would be punished.
“There is rampant abuse of workers in Zimbabwe’s mines and as a union we are saying no to that. We would like to urge all mine workers to report such cases so that perpetrators would be brought to book,” he said.
“We have got many complaints from workers working in different companies complaining that their employers are abusing them through beatings, unfair dismissal, low wages, lack of safety, long working hours, among other unacceptable behaviour from employers,” he added.
Gumbo said employees were not treated as human beings in Zimbabwe and there was a lot of employee casualisation which is contrary to the Labour Act.
Employees were not accorded proper accommodation as a family of six would share one room, he said.
“There is no patriotism in this country because even our fellow Zimbabweans are abusing us. We have been crying for a long time, but it seems our cries are falling in deaf ears,” Gumbo said, adding that there was no political will to implement measures to protect workers as some of the ministers own mining companies.
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In his budget statement in December last year, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said the government was reviewing the labour law to make it easier to hire employees and increase productivity.
He said the changes would make the laws “flexible and linking remuneration to productivity, that way promoting interests of both the investor and employees”.
However, in a country with unemployment hovering above 80% and where most employees take home about $227 per month on average, far less than the poverty datum line currently at $573, labour analysts say the review of the law will poison relations with labour unions, but curry favour with the Chinese who have a reputation of abusing employee rights.
Concerns over Chinese companies’ treatment of employees have been raised in different fora in the country, with the matter mentioned no less than three times in Parliament last year.
Chinese companies stand accused of subjecting employees to long working hours, poor working conditions, arbitrary dismissals, beatings at the workplace and very low wages.
