News / National
High court ruling on retrenchment packages shocking- ZCTU
17 Mar 2017 at 02:02hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has said in yet another anti-worker judgment, the High Court of Zimbabwe has ruled that workers who lost their jobs following the July 17, 2015 Supreme Court ruling that allowed employers to terminate contracts on notice, will have no obligation to pay retrenchment packages to workers .
ZCTU Secretary general Japhet Moyo said the union is shocked and saddened by this judgment that joins a list of similar judgments that it views as retrogressive to the workers' cause.
"This High Court judgment has dashed the hopes of compensation to employees retrenched after the Supreme Court judgment of 2015, by ruling that the law
that required retrospective payments is unconstitutional," he said.
"The Supreme Court ruling saw thousands of jobs being lost and the ZCTU had to work hard to force the Government to amend the Labour Act so that the
retrenched workers were paid retrogressively. The ZCTU viewed the dismissals more as victimization and purges than genuine restructuring exercises."
He said while acknowledging the legal rights of parties to an employment contract, and the independence of the judiciary, the ZCTU views the latest ruling as failing to address matters of social justice in line with international labour standards.
"Any unjust termination must be accompanied by payment of adequate compensation. Therefore if workers cannot get justice in the courts, the government must pay compensation to the affected workers by
imposing a levy from the employers," he said.
"It is unfortunate that recent court judgments clearly show that the courts have usurped the labour law reform process and have rendered the Tripartite
Negotiation Forum (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."
"We are therefore calling upon all workers of Zimbabwe to rise up and defend their interests before they are robbed of a dignified world of work."
ZCTU Secretary general Japhet Moyo said the union is shocked and saddened by this judgment that joins a list of similar judgments that it views as retrogressive to the workers' cause.
"This High Court judgment has dashed the hopes of compensation to employees retrenched after the Supreme Court judgment of 2015, by ruling that the law
that required retrospective payments is unconstitutional," he said.
"The Supreme Court ruling saw thousands of jobs being lost and the ZCTU had to work hard to force the Government to amend the Labour Act so that the
retrenched workers were paid retrogressively. The ZCTU viewed the dismissals more as victimization and purges than genuine restructuring exercises."
He said while acknowledging the legal rights of parties to an employment contract, and the independence of the judiciary, the ZCTU views the latest ruling as failing to address matters of social justice in line with international labour standards.
"Any unjust termination must be accompanied by payment of adequate compensation. Therefore if workers cannot get justice in the courts, the government must pay compensation to the affected workers by
imposing a levy from the employers," he said.
"It is unfortunate that recent court judgments clearly show that the courts have usurped the labour law reform process and have rendered the Tripartite
Negotiation Forum (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."
"We are therefore calling upon all workers of Zimbabwe to rise up and defend their interests before they are robbed of a dignified world of work."
Source - Byo24News
