Harare - At least 18 000 workers have been sacked by 48 companies in Zimbabwe since the middle of last month after the Supreme Court ruling which made it legal to dismiss employees with just three months notice and no other terminal benefits, nor retrenchment packages.
The number of those sacked may be higher as some who lost their jobs in the last few weeks did not report this to the unions.
Journalists were sacked by the privately-owned Daily News, and other media houses, as well as from the country’s most prominent and profitable company, Econet, which runs the largest mobile network in Zimbabwe.
It fired 400 workers and told others who did not lose their jobs that salaries would be cut by as much as 45 percent.
At least another 30 companies are known to have sacked workers, including private educational establishments.
Since the elections in 2013, which delivered a massive if disputed victory to the ruling Zanu PF, a quarter of the formal labour force have lost their jobs because of the contraction of the economy, according to statistics gathered by economists and the unions.
Senior trade unionist Kenias Shamuyarira, secretary-general of the Zanu PF-aligned Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions, blamed a “capitalist conspiracy” for the sackings and a “miscarriage of the interpretation of the law.”
He and others have called on President Robert Mugabe to use his presidential powers to reverse the Supreme Court ruling. Overriding the court would violate the new constitution which was negotiated and adopted during the unity government between Zanu PF and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) parties from 2009 until 2013. But the constitution has been largely ignored by the present government anyway.
“Common law doesn’t mean just dishing out letters terminating contracts of employment and forfeiting of salaries and benefits. But, they [employers] are deliberately choosing to interpret a single section of the law to suit their demands,” Shamuyarira told state media Tuesday.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president George Nkiwane said most of the Zimbabwe media, with the exception of state-controlled newspapers, were ignoring the upturning of the labour laws.
“This is a serious issue, and it’s no longer certain if you’ll wake up and find your job safe.”
Many employers say privately they are relieved at the change because, for many companies, the sharp downturn in the economy meant a choice between going broke, or getting rid of staff and hoping for better times.
Now public service workers are wondering whether finance minister Patrick Chinamasa is also going to also give orders for job cuts, given that the government wage bill eats up more then 90 percent of national revenue.
“We know it is coming, we just don’t know when, maybe year end,” said a Harare primary school teacher.
ANA