Opinion / Columnist
Marvo workers demonstrate against none payment of salaries
30 Mar 2014 at 17:17hrs | Views
These pictures shows Marvo workers demonstrating against none payment of their salaries at the Company premises in Bulawayo yesterday morning.
The workers have for the past 15 months only paid $250-00 which they got in bits and pieces. Yesterday's demonstrations were trigged by Marvo's Managing director Mr Soul Mashamba's comments at last month's council meeting that the Company has no money.
The money that is available is for buying brand new cars for the top management who already got housing, fuel, airtime, and school fees allowances for their children and even relatives.
At the expense of workers, some of whom are staying in bushes such as NRZ's old wagons in west gate because they have been chased out of their lodgings for failure to pay rent since 2009.
According to an informant, Mr Shashamba said there is nowhere, where workers can report him, he said he has the power to fire them without a cent he doesn't care even if they take their case to the Labour court it will take years before it is finalise.
The informant says Marvo stationery is one of those Companies that benefited from DEMAF which was meant to resuscitate the ailing Companies but instead they took the money and they are using it to buy finished goods at Freedom Stationery in South Africa in large quantities using a BROWNS logo at the expanse of local industry.
Marvo got $758 000-00
DEMAF money. Marvo workers are appealing to the Government to also setup
an inter-ministerial committee to look into the dealings of top
management and shareholders in the private sector, they believe there is a
lot of corruption even worse than in Government and parastatals.
"Mr Mashamba has resorted to threatening workers a few weeks ago he reported one of workers to the ZRP as part of trying to silence workers. Workers believe he has a strong connection with the Police because his wife is a Boss there and he also has friends there which he used to threaten us.
"All we are asking for is our salaries and back pays we continue to make production at the Company but still no money for us because they are taking advantage of Government's failure to protect the workers."
"At the moment Marvo management is busy changing ownership of Marvo assets to BROWNS to frustrate workers efforts to recover their dues. But we are engaging Lawyers to counter such kind of corruption."
Mashamba claims that he bought the Company from the previous owners and he is the current owner a claim which is disputed by workers.
The workers have for the past 15 months only paid $250-00 which they got in bits and pieces. Yesterday's demonstrations were trigged by Marvo's Managing director Mr Soul Mashamba's comments at last month's council meeting that the Company has no money.
The money that is available is for buying brand new cars for the top management who already got housing, fuel, airtime, and school fees allowances for their children and even relatives.
At the expense of workers, some of whom are staying in bushes such as NRZ's old wagons in west gate because they have been chased out of their lodgings for failure to pay rent since 2009.
According to an informant, Mr Shashamba said there is nowhere, where workers can report him, he said he has the power to fire them without a cent he doesn't care even if they take their case to the Labour court it will take years before it is finalise.
The informant says Marvo stationery is one of those Companies that benefited from DEMAF which was meant to resuscitate the ailing Companies but instead they took the money and they are using it to buy finished goods at Freedom Stationery in South Africa in large quantities using a BROWNS logo at the expanse of local industry.
"Mr Mashamba has resorted to threatening workers a few weeks ago he reported one of workers to the ZRP as part of trying to silence workers. Workers believe he has a strong connection with the Police because his wife is a Boss there and he also has friends there which he used to threaten us.
"All we are asking for is our salaries and back pays we continue to make production at the Company but still no money for us because they are taking advantage of Government's failure to protect the workers."
"At the moment Marvo management is busy changing ownership of Marvo assets to BROWNS to frustrate workers efforts to recover their dues. But we are engaging Lawyers to counter such kind of corruption."
Mashamba claims that he bought the Company from the previous owners and he is the current owner a claim which is disputed by workers.
Source - Mbonisi Gumbo
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