ZCTU demands intervantion of President Mugabe in the Supreme Court ruling on workers

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary general Japhet Moyo has called for the intervention of the President Robert Mugabe in the issue in which the Supreme Court ruled that companies can given three months notice of contract termination to workers without pay.

In a press release Moyo said the ZCTU calls for Presidential Intervention over Supreme Court Judgment on termination of contracts.

"Following the recent Supreme Court judgment that allows employers to terminate contracts of employment on notice, the ZCTU has engaged the government through the Tripartite Negotiating Forum and it has been agreed that the Presidential Powers Temporary Measures be invoked to stop these senseless terminations, otherwise workers will be left with no option but to flood the streets to vent their anger," said Moyo.

"The ZCTU is prepared to hold street demonstrations until the government finds a lasting solution until the labour law reform process is done. We are also calling upon all workers and those with the interests of the working class at heart to boycott Zuva Petroleum and all law firms that destroy us by assisting blood sucking capitalists to oppress workers."

He said already thousands of jobs have been lost within a week and if there are no special measures put in place more workers will be out of employment.

"The dismissals are more of victimisation purges than genuine restructuring exercises and have turned the workplace into a nightmare," Moyo said.

 "The ZCTU will not stand aside and look while the employers in cahoots with the courts condemn workers and millions of their dependents to the gallows."

He said while acknowledging the legal rights of parties to an employment contract, the ZCTU views the latest ruling as wrongly interpreted and meant to mislead the population that employers and employees have the same rights.

"The ruling will have an adverse effect of destroying the gains achieved over the past 35 years with far reaching economic and security effects," he said.

"Recent court judgments clearly show that the courts have usurped the labour law reform process and have rendered the TNF useless by gushing out regressive judgments that renders all TNF agreements a nullity. The government needs to act fast in resolving this problem or else everyone is going to end up in the streets. The latest ruling has casualised all workers and the only way to safeguard workers is to establish a special Labour Appeals Court with judges well versed in labour law."

"We are therefore calling upon all workers of Zimbabwe to rise up and defend their interests before these conspirators rob future generations of a dignified world of work."