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Blessing Karubwa
IN a shocking tale of workplace bullying and intimidation, employees at a mine in Shurugwi, Midlands Province, have accused the company of unfairly suspending them after requesting a pay rise.
The courageous workers, who had toiled at the mining company for nearly two years, were allegedly met with a draconian response from management, including allegations of physical altercations and a manager who allegedly brandished a gun to coerce them into working.
The company has also been accused of neglecting to provide basic safety wear for its employees, creating a hostile working environment. The suspended employees, who staged a sit-in protest to demand better salaries, claim their workplace is no longer conducive to productivity or safety.
In an interview with B-Metro, one of the suspended workers, Brian Dube, described the suspension as unfair treatment of employees, which he attributed to suppressing people’s voices.
“We embarked on a sit-in on 7 August this year as a means to tell our management to pay us adequate salaries, but this did not help, instead, it worsened the situation. More than ten people have been suspended for participating in the sit-in. Just before we were suspended, our workplace became intolerable because our manager and some officers were moving around with guns, forcing us to work despite our pleas for a pay rise.
“We were not engaging in any violent behaviour; we simply came to work as usual but were unable to work due to our desire for the company to address our grievances. Our manager sometimes hits us, and our workplace is no longer comfortable, and last week he fought with one of the workers,” he said.
Dube said they have tried reporting the matter to the police but to no avail. “We’ve tried involving the police, labour officials, our councillor and some government officials but to no avail. We work for over 11 hours a day and get nothing. We also don’t have toilets, so we relieve ourselves in the bushes. We don’t have proper housing and sleep in cabins.
“There’s absolutely no safety. They sometimes arbitrarily deduct money from our salaries, claiming it’s for Nssa, but we’ve realized we don’t have Nssa numbers. If you’re dismissed or resign, you get nothing; you just go home empty-handed. We were trying to protect ourselves from these conditions, but our voices have been suppressed. Some of our colleagues have been arrested, while others have been beaten,” lamented Dube.
Another suspended worker, Aron Sithole (23) echoed these sentiments, adding that the workplace had become unsafe due to the manager’s behaviour.
“Our workplace is no longer safe. We tried addressing our grievances by staging a sit-in, hoping management would listen, but it turned into a disaster. More than ten people were suspended for participating. Now, they refuse to pay us the money the company owes us. We’re penniless and don’t know what to do,” he said.
“I am one of those who were suspended. Recently, I complained about the random salary cuts we were experiencing. The day after the strike, when I returned to work, I was told I had been suspended. I refused to sign the suspension letter, but I still haven’t been allowed to return to work,” said Portent Sangweni (41).
Freeman Machinya (25) also complained about the unfair suspensions. He claimed the company often used suspensions to get rid of employees. After receiving an indefinite suspension from his manager, Machinya resigned.
Contacted for comment, the manager neither confirmed nor denied the allegations against him and the company. He promised to respond to the questions before the paper’s deadline but failed to do so.
“I’ll call you when I get to work,” he said before hanging up. He never returned the calls after that.
Online Reporter