admin
THE Government recently came up with new regulations governing retrenchments in a bid to protect workers from unscrupulous employers that rush to retrench. According to the new regulations, retrenchment should be the last resort.The new regulations came into effect after the government realised that some companies are threatening economic growth through unjustified retrenchments which mostly affect lower grades while top executives are left out.
It is against this background that we call upon the government to investigate allegations against Tregers Group which is in the process of retrenching an undisclosed number of employees. The move is said to have caused panic among an estimated 3,000 workers who fear losing their jobs. According to the workers, the first group of workers was retrenched on Friday last week.
The workers said management informed them the company was closing some of its divisions but the workers believe this is not true. They said they were being forced to sign documents confirming termination of their employment contracts.
The workers said the move to retrench them was not justified given the fact that the group is doing well. “If this is about genuine retrenchment or closure of a registered company that employs five or more people, that company should give six months notice. In our case we don’t know if the retrenchment board has such a letter from our company since the matter wasn’t passed in any works council meetings at Monarch Steel or Shamrock Transport, a division of Treger Products,” said the workers.
Tregers Group is one of the biggest companies in Bulawayo and its divisions include Kango Products, Monarch Steel, Tregers Plastics and Zimbabwe Grain Bag. According to documents in our possession, the company is offering a severance package of just three months’ salary/wages which in our view is ridiculous given the fact that some of those being retrenched have served the company for more than 50 years.
The government should move in and investigate how the retrenchment is being carried out at this company. From what the workers are saying, the retrenchment is not being carried out according to laid down procedures. The workers and management are supposed to agree in the works council that the company has no other option but to retrench and as already alluded to, the retrenchment must be the last resort.
According to workers, the retrenchment at Tregers has not been agreed to in the works council and if this is true then the whole exercise should be declared null and void. The government should immediately move in to investigate and ensure that retrenchment procedures are followed.
The government must satisfy itself that the retrenchment at the company is the last resort and workers should be paid severance packages that will enable them to survive out of employment. A severance package of three months is just a mockery given the many years some of the workers have served the company.
It is a fact that at times companies are forced to downsize their labour force but in so doing management should strive to minimise the suffering of workers. Management should be sensitive to the plight of workers who have over the years contributed to the growth of the company. We want to once again implore the government to investigate what is happening at Tregers.
Online Reporter