Published by the government of Zimbabwe
John Manzongo
5 November 2009
Harare — Local food manufacturing companies are struggling for survival as they continue to lose business to imports.
Federation of Food and Allied Workers Union general secretary Mr Dickson Tarusenga said many companies were failing to pay their workers because of low business.
"There are a number of companies that have not paid their workers salaries since the introduction of the foreign currency regime.
"We have a lot of cases awaiting hearing and judgments for non-payment of salaries. The situation is very pathetic," he said.
Mr Tarusenga said despite the non-payment of their salaries, some workers continued to go to work.
"Zimbabweans are hardworking people, workers continue to work without salaries, they always remain optimistic.
"The lowest paid worker in our industry is earning a paltry salary of US$35 per month especially in the detergents, oil and edible fats category," he said.
He said despite the fact that their salaries still fall far short of the poverty datum line, workers continued to work for the improvement of the country's economy.
Mr Tarusenga, however, said big multinational companies were enjoying brisk business as they got raw materials from other countries.
"Poor technological infrastructure in our country is making the goods expensive. Companies continue to say it's cheap to import than to manufacture in Zimbabwe.
"Workers continue to lose jobs in food manufacturing companies as they no longer manufacture and choose to import.
"Workers have now come to understand the plight of their companies.
"We strongly urge the Government to make sure they assist manufacturing companies to remain operational," he said.
He also said there was a sad development in the industry as some companies no longer remit workers' contributions to the union, NSSA and Zimra.
"Employers are deducting union and NSSA contributions from workers but they are not remitting those contributions. This is a serious trend which should be immediately addressed to safeguard workers against exploitation," he said.
Mr Tarusenga said it was becoming difficult for workers to complain because they will be fired and companies engage casual workers.
"Employers are taking advantage of the harsh economic environment to exploit workers because those who complain or happen to know their rights are fired.
"The same companies will engage casual workers who do not know or complain about their rights," he said.
The food industry employs more than 50 000 workers in sectors such as bakeries, edible oils and fats, detergents, milling, meat and fish.
Bakery workers earn a minimum of US$127, meat and fish US$133, milling US$$135, detergents, edible oil and fats workers are the least paid with some taking home as little as US$35.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
