Rise in labour broking practice riles workers

WORKERS have condemned the growing trend of labour broking, saying the model not only short changes them, but in the event of occupational injuries and illnesses employees are left to suffer with no employer taking responsibility.

Speaking during the recent Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU) conference in Bulawayo, the union’s secretary general, Mr Justice Chinamo, said often workers who get jobs through sub-contracted companies work without knowing who their real employers are.

He said such disguised employers deny workers their rights and tend to subject them to several forms of abuses most of which are often unreported.

“The monster existing in our sector is the rise of labour broking or employment arrangements, where workers are employed by a sub-contracted company,” said Mr Chinamo.

“In some cases, the company will be owned by management of the principal mine. Sometimes they work without knowing who their employers are.

“Sadly, in the event of occupational injuries, and illnesses, these workers are left to suffer on their own with no employer taking responsibility for them.”

Mr Chinamo said the practice is beginning to emerge in the lithium mines where individuals are being given contracts by the main mine to do general work, managing labour with no supervision and monitoring by labour inspectors.

“We have chosen to allow this kind of employment in our economy and our labour market to the extent that investors come and unilaterally decide their own employment models to the detriment of the ordinary Zimbabwean worker,” said Mr Chinamo. The current system and practice on employment in the mining industry leave so much room for abuse and exploitation.

“We cannot allow employment models at the whims of investors in the name of creating an enabling environment for investment to thrive when in fact these end up thriving at the expense of our citizens.”

He said the union must intervene and push for the amendment of the mining industry Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as provided for in Section 12(3a) of the Labour Act Chapter 28.01.

In 2015, lawmakers came up with an amendment of the Labour Act through a section, which provides that:

“(3a) A contract of employment that specifies its duration or date of termination, including a contract for casual work or seasonal work or for the performance of some specific service, shall, despite such specification, be deemed to be a contract of employment without limitation of time upon the expiry of such period of continuous service as is:

(a) fixed by the appropriate employment council; or

(b) prescribed by the minister, if there is no employment council for the undertaking concerned, or where the employment council fixes no such period; and thereupon the employee concerned shall be afforded the same benefits as are in this Act or any collective bargaining agreement provided for those employees who engaged without limit of time.”

Mr Chinamo said weak employment standards present a challenge in organising and the effective enforcement of workers’ rights, as well as fair employment practices.

“Our statutes must ensure that workers’ rights are respected and labour standards remain relevant in the face of the rapidly changing world of work,” he said.

“A majority of workers including the unionised are facing income and employment insecurity. Mining industry laws are not offering adequate protection to workers. By extension the general economy is making it very hard.”

The recently held congress was attended by local stakeholders in the mining sector including pension funds, employers and employees in the sector.

Regional peer organisations from Namibia, South Africa, Zambia Botswana and Egypt also attended in solidarity with ZDAMWU.

-herald