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Oliver Kazunga Senior Reporter—
AT a time when scores of companies are dismissing workers on notice following a recent Supreme Court ruling authorising them to do so, Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) says it will not do likewise. Close to 20,000 workers have lost their jobs in the past few weeks after the court ruled in a case involving two ex-Zuva Petroleum workers, that employers can fire workers without benefits upon giving them three months notice only.
“We consulted widely, we also thoroughly sought to establish the government’s position on it on those wider consultations. Yes, we’ve a good case to go that route if we wanted to, but we’re not going to go that route,” HCCL board chairman, Farai Mutamangira told a media briefing after a familiarisation tour of the company operations on Thursday.
He added: “We hope that the new concession we got in the eastern areas, if new operations are to start in the next year or two, would enable us to meet increased demand for coal.”
Having close to 3,000 workers, HCCL has been faced with operational constraints that have seen the coal miner’s output declining with its workforce going for months without salaries.
Due to low productivity, the colliery accumulated a salary backlog amounting to more than $18 million.
Recently the giant parastatal acquired new equipment worth $31 million, giving it a new lease of life.
“We’ve an excellent relationship with the employees. They must be thanked for their resilience. We don’t take for granted their situation. I think with what we’ve done now (acquiring new machinery to increase output) every focus must now be directed at making sure that their concerns are addressed.
“They (workers) are getting something because of small interventions that are being made but from a practical perspective with our production stabilising what we owe them is really something that can be cleared within a very short space of time,” said Mutamangira.
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