adminThrough their union, the workers said despite Standard Chartered Bank making sound profits, they were the least paid in the banking sector, resulting in them earning a gross salary of $575 for the lowest paid employee
For their salaries to be in tandem with what other financial institutions in the country were paying, they are demanding a 15 percent salary adjustment.
And as part of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment programme promulgated by Government recently, firms from all sectors of the economy are required to implement the Employee Share Ownership
Scheme to allow their respective workers to acquire between five and 28 percent controlling stake in the entities.
Zibawu president Mr Peter Mutasa told Business Chronicle yesterday that the workers could not be issued with the certificate of no settlement by Friday last week because officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare were constantly out of office.
“We did not get it (certificate of no settlement) because officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare were constantly out of office the whole day on Friday. Hopefully on Wednesday (tomorrow) we will get it for us to immediately embark on a strike by Standard Chartered Bank employees,” he said.
“All our systems are ready for the strike and as soon as we are issued with a certificate of no settlement, the industrial action will start with go-slows, sit-ins, and nationally all our members will embark on picketing.
The top 10 bank’s clients are also going to be involved by staging a petition to force Standard Chartered Bank to pay its workers decent salaries,” said Mr Mutasa adding that the workers would also post back to their Group chief executive, Mr Peter Sands in London, key holders the bank gave them.
He said the key holders would be returned to confirm that instead of being given such tokens of appreciation by their employer, the employees prefer decent salaries to enable them have a better living standard.
Standard Chartered Bank is a multinational institution, headquartered in London, where the employees allege that the entity was repatriating profits to shareholders.
“We are also going to use the strike as a platform to conscientise the policymakers that Standard Chartered Bank is refusing to discuss the Employee Share Ownership Scheme with its workers. We want them (Standard Chartered Bank) to start discussing the scheme now,” he said.
Online Reporter