News / National
Tsvangirai dragged to court over unfair dismissal
21 May 2014 at 03:24hrs | Views
BELEAGUERED opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is facing another hurdle from a different front after former MDC-T workers engaged lawyers to demand compensation for unfair dismissal in a case linked to the party's factional disputes.
Sixteen workers - who include former MDC-T director general Toendepi Shonhe - claim they were unfairly dismissed after they were barred from accessing their workplaces on allegations of siding with a group of officials fighting for Tsvangirai's ouster. The workers are being represented by National Constitutional Assembly leader Lovemore Madhuku of Mucheche and Matsikidze Legal Practitioners.
In a letter dated May 12 by Mucheche and Matsikidze to MDC-T acting secretary-general Tapiwa Mashakada, the workers claim they were "dismissed without charge".
The demands for compensation are set to compound MDC-T's financial woes.
MDC-T has been failing to pay workers for the past four months while some of those retrenched are still to be paid their dues.
Mashakada on May 16, however, responded claiming that the 16 had not been dismissed and demanded evidence that they had been unfairly discharged from work. He said the party was actually looking for them to report to work.
"The people have not been reporting for duty and we are looking for them," Mashakada wrote to Mucheche and Matsikidze.
He claimed that he actually wrote to the 16 workers asking them to report for work, but they did not. But the workers claimed they had not been paid since February when they stopped reporting for work after realising they were under threat for alleged involvement in the party's factional disputes.
They claimed that, despite being professionals who have nothing to do with MDC-T factional fights, they had been receiving verbal and physical threats from the MDC-T youths each time they set foot at Harvest House, the party's headquarters. They said the persecution meant dismissal from work.
"Section 12 b (3) (a) of labour Act, Chapter 28:01, an employee is deemed to have been unfairly dismissed if the employee terminated the contract of employment with or without notice because the employer deliberately made continued employment intolerable for the employee," Mucheche and Matsikidze wrote to Mashakada.
"You are aware that our clients will lose their lives if they set foot at Harvest House and your purported letters are a continuation of the persecution of our clients."
The lawyers added: "Targeting them for persecution and accusing them of having certain preferences among MDC-T leaders will be unfair."
The MDC-T is currently involved in serious internal wrangles emanating from the calls by a team led by suspended secretary-general Tendai Biti and former deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma for Tsvangirai to step down.
The workers claimed that Tsvangirai was in charge at Harvest House and their harassment was a deliberate ploy to dismiss them and
replace them with those who are "politically correct".
Shonhe yesterday refused to comment on the matter referring all questions to Madhuku.
Sixteen workers - who include former MDC-T director general Toendepi Shonhe - claim they were unfairly dismissed after they were barred from accessing their workplaces on allegations of siding with a group of officials fighting for Tsvangirai's ouster. The workers are being represented by National Constitutional Assembly leader Lovemore Madhuku of Mucheche and Matsikidze Legal Practitioners.
In a letter dated May 12 by Mucheche and Matsikidze to MDC-T acting secretary-general Tapiwa Mashakada, the workers claim they were "dismissed without charge".
The demands for compensation are set to compound MDC-T's financial woes.
MDC-T has been failing to pay workers for the past four months while some of those retrenched are still to be paid their dues.
Mashakada on May 16, however, responded claiming that the 16 had not been dismissed and demanded evidence that they had been unfairly discharged from work. He said the party was actually looking for them to report to work.
"The people have not been reporting for duty and we are looking for them," Mashakada wrote to Mucheche and Matsikidze.
They claimed that, despite being professionals who have nothing to do with MDC-T factional fights, they had been receiving verbal and physical threats from the MDC-T youths each time they set foot at Harvest House, the party's headquarters. They said the persecution meant dismissal from work.
"Section 12 b (3) (a) of labour Act, Chapter 28:01, an employee is deemed to have been unfairly dismissed if the employee terminated the contract of employment with or without notice because the employer deliberately made continued employment intolerable for the employee," Mucheche and Matsikidze wrote to Mashakada.
"You are aware that our clients will lose their lives if they set foot at Harvest House and your purported letters are a continuation of the persecution of our clients."
The lawyers added: "Targeting them for persecution and accusing them of having certain preferences among MDC-T leaders will be unfair."
The MDC-T is currently involved in serious internal wrangles emanating from the calls by a team led by suspended secretary-general Tendai Biti and former deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma for Tsvangirai to step down.
The workers claimed that Tsvangirai was in charge at Harvest House and their harassment was a deliberate ploy to dismiss them and
replace them with those who are "politically correct".
Shonhe yesterday refused to comment on the matter referring all questions to Madhuku.
Source - Southern Eye
