ABOUT 800 unionised workers at the cash-strapped Nitrogen Chemical of Zambia in Kafue yesterday protested and set up camp at the office of District Commissioner (DC), demanding their terminal benefits.

The workers who gathered as early as 06:00 hours mounted tents within the premises demanding to be addressed by Agriculture Minister, Brian Chituwo or any other senior Government official.

National Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers (NUCIW) branch chairperson Robert Munsanje said the workers were demanding their terminal benefits since it had become apparent that the Government would not recapitalise its only fertiliser manufacturing company.

The workers who lit some bonfires and sang solemn songs, vowed that they would not move away from the tents until the Government responded to their demands.

They said they would stay away from their homes for as long as the Government did not do anything about their plight.

They said life had become unbearable for them and that they wanted to leave the company to concentrate on other things.

The address by the Zambian Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) secretary general Roy Mwaba did not help much as the workers remained adamant insisting that they needed answers from the Government.

Mr Munsanje said the members resolved that the leaders should travel to Lusaka to meet Vice-President George Kunda.

After learning that Mr Kunda was unable to meet them due his parliamentary commitment, the workers' representatives converged at the ZCTU national secretariat in Woodlands to try and chart a way forward while the workers remained in tents at the DC's offices.

By press time, workers were still outside.

Efforts to get Dr Chituwo failed.