Business / Local
$10 salary for Marvo employees
02 Jul 2014 at 10:58hrs | Views
TROUBLED Bulawayo firm Marvo Stationery Manufacturers has paid its workers $10 each after going for 18 months without salaries, it emerged yesterday.
The disgruntled workers told Southern Eye Business, management paid them $10 last week.
"The management called us last week and gave us $10 as our salaries and this is embarrassing to say the least. We do not know what to do and we are completely agitated," a worker, speaking on condition he is not named, said.
"What can you do with $10? I have children to look after. I have to pay rentals, feed, clothe and bath the kids. This is an insult," the worker added.
Some of the workers accused the government of neglecting them.
"The government seems to have forgotten us. It promised that firms were going to be recapitalised and more jobs created, but what we are witnessing is mindboggling," another worker said.
"Some of us have been reduced to beggars or streets kids. We have lost everything including our wives. Our children have dropped out of school and it's pathetic."
When contacted for comment, Marvo managing director Saul Mashamba said the situation was necessitated by economic hardships.
"The economic situation is not alright in Zimbabwe and it is not Marvo alone which has been affected. We are making some efforts to keep Marvo afloat," Mashamba said.
He pleaded with the press not to keep on publishing them saying it was driving away prospective financiers.
Recently, the firm reduced the number of working days to two weeks a month, a move vehemently opposed by the workers. The workers appealed to civil society groups and the government to come to their rescue.
Marvo Stationery has been struggling to remain afloat for some time and a cash injection from the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) failed to turn around its fortunes.
Last month about 50 workers stormed the Marvo management offices demanding their salaries and clarification on what happened to the Dimaf loan given to Marvo in 2012.
The disgruntled workers told Southern Eye Business, management paid them $10 last week.
"The management called us last week and gave us $10 as our salaries and this is embarrassing to say the least. We do not know what to do and we are completely agitated," a worker, speaking on condition he is not named, said.
"What can you do with $10? I have children to look after. I have to pay rentals, feed, clothe and bath the kids. This is an insult," the worker added.
Some of the workers accused the government of neglecting them.
"The government seems to have forgotten us. It promised that firms were going to be recapitalised and more jobs created, but what we are witnessing is mindboggling," another worker said.
When contacted for comment, Marvo managing director Saul Mashamba said the situation was necessitated by economic hardships.
"The economic situation is not alright in Zimbabwe and it is not Marvo alone which has been affected. We are making some efforts to keep Marvo afloat," Mashamba said.
He pleaded with the press not to keep on publishing them saying it was driving away prospective financiers.
Recently, the firm reduced the number of working days to two weeks a month, a move vehemently opposed by the workers. The workers appealed to civil society groups and the government to come to their rescue.
Marvo Stationery has been struggling to remain afloat for some time and a cash injection from the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) failed to turn around its fortunes.
Last month about 50 workers stormed the Marvo management offices demanding their salaries and clarification on what happened to the Dimaf loan given to Marvo in 2012.
Source - Southern Eye
