120 000 workers unpaid in three years - report

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has said at least 120 000 workers have gone without pay for three years mainly in the private sector.

In a 36-page report titled "Working Without Pay, Wage Theft in Zimbabwe", the research division of the main labour body — the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) - exposed a wage crisis that has reached catastrophic levels outside of the Public Service Commission, which employs government workers.

The research unit, the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), said at least 120 000 workers across the country worked without pay between 2015 and last year.

An estimated 350 000 formally employed workers have sunk into abject poverty, while their bosses live in opulence – earning up to 769 times more than shop floor workers.

At the time of the research, a staggering 40 000 workers had gone for three years without pay, while a further 80 000 had not received wages on time, Financial Gazette reported.

Local authorities were some of the biggest culprits. Urban councils had the highest number of employees who worked for nothing for an average period of nine months.

The report said 22 778 workers in 20 urban local authorities had not received their salaries.

In the agricultural sector, 12 000 workers were not being paid, while 7 500 security sector employees and a further 7 500 in the automotive industry had suffered the same fate.                               

About 7 500 workers had gone for 14 months without pay at the State-controlled National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), 4 600 in the clothing sector, 3 720 in medical and pharmaceutical companies and 1 800 workers in the energy sector, among other industries.
Public and private sector chief executive officers (CEOs) literally "looted" companies.

"While governmental institutions in Zimbabwe are complicit in these violations, top managers continue to receive high salaries and generous benefits," said the report, which was carried out in collaboration with the United States based Solidarity Centre.

"People work to earn income – a wage. Yet in Zimbabwe, as in many other parts of the world, access to adequate and regular wages is not guaranteed in practice, even for employed workers. In other cases, wages are inadequately paid in kind than in cash, with consumer goods or even alcohol.

"This phenomenon, which has been linked to bondage and even slavery, runs counter to widely adopted international treaties as well as national laws. This failure to pay what workers are legally entitled to is wage theft in that it involves employers taking money that belongs to their employees and keeping it for themselves. This is a clear violation of international labour standards, as well as national legislation on the employment of workers," the report added.

"Among approximately 350 000 workers in formal employment in 2014, more than 80 000 did not receive wages and benefits on time. Many of these workers…(are) still expected to come to work without fail.

" The non-payment of wages is no longer only a private sector phenomenon, but has extended to the public sector, where many workers are also going without pay. Both the government and parastatal institutions have been complacent about dealing with this issue…contributing to the disintegration of the family, higher rates of poverty and greater numbers of the working poor.

"Even having a single meal a day is becoming an elusive achievement for most workers. The story of the exploited worker, whose rights are being violated in full sight of the government and by the government itself, (must) be told," said ZCTU secretary general Japhet Moyo, writing in the report.