Read this article in:
English
18 October, 2012The National Engineering Workers Union (NEWU) commemorated the World Day for Decent Work with community service on 13 October 2012.
NEWU joined the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) in a day of community service, cleaning a clinic. In his address to the workers after the clean-up, the ZCTU General Secretary, Japhet Moyo said that millions of Zimbabweans have lost all hope of securing employment and those few that are lucky, are mostly engaged in precarious work. He added that the demand for salaries and wages above the poverty datum line is an ongoing struggle for Zimbabwean workers.
On this day, NEWU joined the ZCTU in demanding salaries above the $600.00 (which is the PDL) and job security, which also affects the engineering sector. Most employers are underpaying their workers and resort to using casual labour in a bid to evade paying workers their full benefits, leaving workers with no job security. NEWU reports that some workers go to work everyday but with no guarantee receiving their wages at the end of the month.
The non remittance of union dues, deducted from workers salaries by employers, has also affected the union. This is crippling the union’s finances and affecting its service delivery to its members.
In the last two years, the union has failed to reach an agreement through wage negotiations or arbitration, leaving workers with no choice but resort to industrial action in the future.