LATE national hero Eddison Zvobgo’s son has fired all workers from his chain of hotels in Masvingo and Gweru as the job carnage triggered by a Supreme Court ruling intensifies.
By Tatenda Chitagu
The Supreme Court last month ruled that employers could terminate employees’ contracts by giving them three months’ notice and without compensation.
The government has criticised the mass job losses, but this has not stopped parastatals and Zanu PF bigwigs from firing workers in their numbers.
Edison Zvobgo Jnr fired 216 workers from his Regency Group of Hotels and Leisure Group in Masvingo and Gweru.
Zvobgo is the only worker from the stable whose job is not on the line.
He also fired chief executive officer Fredrick Kasese, several top managers and went right down to the shop floor workers.
Among the workers is his late father’s driver who had served the company for close to 40 years.
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This means that he will be going home without any benefits save for the three months’ salary, despite all the years of hard work and sacrifice.
Zvobgo confirmed the development and said he was doing what other companies were doing.
He blamed the job cuts on the harsh business environment.
“That is true. It is a restructuring exercise necessitated by the environment. It happens everywhere,” Zvobgo said.
He said he would rehire some who got letters terminating their contracts last Friday.
“We will rehire some of the workers. All the units are operating and we are not closing. Workers are at work and we are not closing,” he said.
Close to 10 000 workers have been fired countrywide in over two weeks.
The National Railways of Zimbabwe, which reportedly plans to cull over 1 500, is one of the State-owned companies that have taken advantage of the Supreme Court ruling delivered in a case involving Zuva Petroleum and two of its former managers.
