Over 100 fired in Mutare

Ngoni Dapira
OVER 100 employees in the private sector in Mutare were this week dismissed by notice following the Supreme Court ruling passed on July 17 by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku and four other Judges in a case involving two former Zuva Petroleum employees. According to information gathered by Post Business this week, Hillcrest Schools which comprises Hillcrest College and Hillcrest Preparatory topped the list with 64 employees including 24 academic staff being given the marching orders by notice.

Mountview Hotel dismissed 28 employees, Steward Bank Mutare 15, while mission schools, St David’s Bonda, St Matthias Tsonzo and St Mary’s Magdalene each send away two non-academic staff.

Hillcrest College headmistress, Mrs Anne Holman, said though they had jumped on the opportunity of the ruling, the process taken to select the employees cut-off was carefully and fairly done.

“I did the selection above board with other heads of department involved in the process.
“Our enrolment dropped and staff rationalisation was already in the process since the beginning of the year.

“Some workers were already working half-time since the beginning of the year and some old workers above 60 years had already been served with retirement letters for them to work just until the end of the year.

“Basically the ruling saves us money. It is not what we wanted, but cuts costs and that is honestly why we took it up. No vendettas involved,” said Mrs Holman.
According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions Manicaland chapter more cases of dismissal by notice were still trickling in by the time of going to Press on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court ruling allows arbitrary termination of employment contracts by notice in terms of Section 12 (4a) of the Labour Act surpassing Section 12 (C) of termination with retrenchment benefits.

By last Friday nationally, over 6 000 employees were reported to have lost their jobs since the ruling was passed.
On Monday, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare convened an emergency meeting to iron out outstanding issues on the Labour Act.
The meeting was reportedly snubbed by ZCTU and the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe who are part of the Tripartite Negotiating Forum which is supposed to have input in the Labour Draft Bill.

The TNF brings together Government, labour and the private sector.
Despite the absence of EMCOZ and ZCTU the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare on Monday, however, vowed to try expediting the process by any means necessary.

Independent arbitrator, Dr Noah Ariel Mutongoreni, said the Presidential decree would be the only way to stop the disaster of mass dismissals.
He said the evasion by EMCOZ and ZCTU was deliberate to buy time and hold Government at ransom in the process.

“What is happening is EMCOZ want to buy-time and ZCTU wants to hold Government at ransom to input its contributions which had been left out in the second Draft Bill of June 30, which it rejected (ZCTU).

“The Presidential decree will be the only stopgap measure to bring to halt this out of control firing of employees by employers,” said Dr Mutongoreni.
In the second Draft Bill of the Labour Act presented on June 30 the vagueness in Section 12 (4a) was put right as an amendment in Section 12 (4b) which states that:
“Where an employee is given notice and termination of contract in terms of Section 12 (4a) and such employee is employed under the terms of the contract without the limit of time, the provision of section 12 (C) shall be applicable with regard to compensation for loss of employment,” reads the clause.

Dr Mutongoreni, however, said fortunately the Supreme Court ruling only applied to the private sector citing that commotion would have been the order of the day if it had applied to the public sector.

“In the public sector through Statutory Instrument 1 of 2000 there is no provision for termination of employment under Section 12 (4a).
“Because of the large numbers of employees in the public sector and the unity of unions in the public sector, the pandemonium could have led to a civil unrest,” he said.
Several companies have been taking the advantage of the Supreme Court judgment to sack employees.

Attempts to get a comment from EMCOZ director, Mr John Mufukari and ZCTU secretary-general Mr Japhet Moyo were fruitless by time of going to Press as their numbers were continuously unavailable.