Business / Companies
300 Dunlop employees down tools
12 Jul 2013 at 22:00hrs | Views
Workers at Dunlop Zimbabwe in Bulawayo numbering about 300, yesterday downed tools in protest over the company's failure to increase their salaries since 2009.
The strike was triggered by the management's refusal to negotiate a pay rise. When Chronicle visited the company premises located in Belmont industrial area, disgruntled workers were milling outside the offices, demanding negotiations for salary increase amid reports that the lowest paid worker receives $108 per month.
The workers said the strike would continue until management agreed to come to the negotiation table.
"We have been very loyal to this company with some of us having worked here for more than 10 years and we have not received a salary increase ever since the introduction of the multi-currency.
"Management is refusing to negotiate with us despite the arbitrator's recommendations that we should negotiate. We are not going back until salary negotiations start," said one of the workers.
The workers said the other grievance was that management was yet to re-introduce the medical aid scheme.
"All we are demanding is that we receive a pay rise considering that we are aware of the profits that the company is making. What annoys us most is that the management is reluctant to engage in salary negotiations.
The other grievance is that we are not even on medical aid despite all the risks that we are exposed to during tyre manufacturing," said another worker.
According to the workers, the company's human resources manager, Mr Mbongeni Mkhwananzi, told them that management had to seek permission from its sister company, Apollo South Africa.
"The human resources manager told us that he has to ask for permission from South Africa before management could engage us in salary negotiations and he said the wait could be up to three months," said a worker.
Another worker accused the management of mismanaging company funds.
"We come to work every day and we know that the company is making money but the managers are not being open about how the funds are used," said one of the workers.
When contacted, Mr Mkhwananzi declined to comment saying he could not comment because the company's managing director, Mr Kennedy Mandevani, was away in Harare.
Mr Mandevani could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone was unreachable.
The demonstration comes at a time when the tyre manufacturer indicated last month that it had increased its capacity utilisation to close to 50 percent which is sustained by an increased demand of its tyres on the export market.
Recently, the company introduced a new brand of tyres from Netherlands following revelations that Apollo Vredenstein, which owns a majority stake in the company, had purchased six new presses for the production of high quality tyres with the intention of buying 18 more to increase production volumes.
Dunlop Zimbabwe is one of the few manufacturing companies in Bulawayo that have not closed shop or relocated to Harare.
The strike was triggered by the management's refusal to negotiate a pay rise. When Chronicle visited the company premises located in Belmont industrial area, disgruntled workers were milling outside the offices, demanding negotiations for salary increase amid reports that the lowest paid worker receives $108 per month.
The workers said the strike would continue until management agreed to come to the negotiation table.
"We have been very loyal to this company with some of us having worked here for more than 10 years and we have not received a salary increase ever since the introduction of the multi-currency.
"Management is refusing to negotiate with us despite the arbitrator's recommendations that we should negotiate. We are not going back until salary negotiations start," said one of the workers.
The workers said the other grievance was that management was yet to re-introduce the medical aid scheme.
"All we are demanding is that we receive a pay rise considering that we are aware of the profits that the company is making. What annoys us most is that the management is reluctant to engage in salary negotiations.
The other grievance is that we are not even on medical aid despite all the risks that we are exposed to during tyre manufacturing," said another worker.
"The human resources manager told us that he has to ask for permission from South Africa before management could engage us in salary negotiations and he said the wait could be up to three months," said a worker.
Another worker accused the management of mismanaging company funds.
"We come to work every day and we know that the company is making money but the managers are not being open about how the funds are used," said one of the workers.
When contacted, Mr Mkhwananzi declined to comment saying he could not comment because the company's managing director, Mr Kennedy Mandevani, was away in Harare.
Mr Mandevani could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone was unreachable.
The demonstration comes at a time when the tyre manufacturer indicated last month that it had increased its capacity utilisation to close to 50 percent which is sustained by an increased demand of its tyres on the export market.
Recently, the company introduced a new brand of tyres from Netherlands following revelations that Apollo Vredenstein, which owns a majority stake in the company, had purchased six new presses for the production of high quality tyres with the intention of buying 18 more to increase production volumes.
Dunlop Zimbabwe is one of the few manufacturing companies in Bulawayo that have not closed shop or relocated to Harare.
Source - Chronicle
