AirZim workers distance selves from court application

Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Association (Zamea), said they were not part of the application.
The workers said liquidating the national airline would render 1 400 workers and others down stream jobless.
Mr Caleb Mucheche of Matsikidze and Mucheche Legal Practitioners who represents the applicants National Airways Workers’ Union and Air Transport Union dismissed the statement as null and void.
“The purported Zamea isn’t a registered trade union, so they don’t have a legal status to challenge what has been said by legally constituted unions,” Mr Mucheche said.
“Zamea cannot claim to be withdrawing from a process they were never part of, so what they are saying is a figment of imagination.”
He said he had a meeting with more than 500 Airzim workers represented by the two unions in Harare yesterday to update them on the processes.
Zamea said the application by the two unions had been done without consultation.
“While we appreciate each individuals’ right to approach the courts for redress whenever they feel that their rights have been infringed, it is our considered opinion that they have a responsibility to consider how their actions will impact the rights of others not party to their actions and consult fully before taking any action,” reads the statement.
“We appeal to our colleagues to take note that there may be some elements amongst their advisors who wish to destroy this brand (Air Zimbabwe) and create something new.”
They said they knew the challenges that have beset the airline in recent months but were aware of efforts that President Mugabe and the Government were making to salvage the situation.
The association said those who wanted to run airlines should create their own rather than try to destroy Airzim.
They said airlines that liquidated have been unable to reopen because of the stringent international requirements.
The association said for a domicile country to reopen an airline, it was supposed to prove beyond any reasonable doubt to international bodies, “some of which are hostile to the country of Zimbabwe”, that they are now liquid.