News / National
Mnangagwa's 'no jab no work' policy to be challenged by ZCTU
28 Jul 2021 at 08:55hrs | Views
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) says it is going to challenge the policy of ‘'no jab no work'' that is being implemented by the government.
In a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, the government and its parastatal are blocking unvaccinated workers from coming to work.
The same workers have also been told that they risk losing the COVID-19 insurance allowance.
However, in an interview with OpenParlyZW, ZCTU president Peter Mutasa said the move is unlawful.
Mutasa said his organisation is going to challenge it in court because there is no law that provides for that.
"The government has not come up with a law. Each employer is doing what they want, the government departments are doing what they want, and this is clearly unlawful.
"Even in instances of public emergencies or health emergency, Section 87 of the constitution is clear. The government must promulgate a written law. It is written that can spell out clearly what is expected from workers and what is expected from employers.
There has to be a written law first
"It is only through a written law that can clearly express what are the rights of workers even during the pandemic because workers cannot have all their rights taken away. It is the same written law that can provide the obligation of each part.
"Employment relationship is a personal contract so both the employer and the employee have got rights and obligations. So, an employer cannot be allowed to arbitrarily determine that if a worker is not fully vaccinated, they are not going to get a full salary. If a worker is not vaccinated, they are not going to use a company vehicle. If the worker is not vaccinated, they are not going to get allowances, that is not right.
"That is unfair discrimination, so as labour we are already going to court. We are going to challenge the constitutionality of those pronouncements and those practices, and we believe we are on the right side of the constitution. This is arbitrarily being done, this is unlawful, and this is unconstitutional," he said.
ZCTU to challenge "no jab no work'' policy
In a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, the government and its parastatal are blocking unvaccinated workers from coming to work.
The same workers have also been told that they risk losing the COVID-19 insurance allowance.
However, in an interview with OpenParlyZW, ZCTU president Peter Mutasa said the move is unlawful.
Mutasa said his organisation is going to challenge it in court because there is no law that provides for that.
"The government has not come up with a law. Each employer is doing what they want, the government departments are doing what they want, and this is clearly unlawful.
"Even in instances of public emergencies or health emergency, Section 87 of the constitution is clear. The government must promulgate a written law. It is written that can spell out clearly what is expected from workers and what is expected from employers.
There has to be a written law first
"It is only through a written law that can clearly express what are the rights of workers even during the pandemic because workers cannot have all their rights taken away. It is the same written law that can provide the obligation of each part.
"Employment relationship is a personal contract so both the employer and the employee have got rights and obligations. So, an employer cannot be allowed to arbitrarily determine that if a worker is not fully vaccinated, they are not going to get a full salary. If a worker is not vaccinated, they are not going to use a company vehicle. If the worker is not vaccinated, they are not going to get allowances, that is not right.
"That is unfair discrimination, so as labour we are already going to court. We are going to challenge the constitutionality of those pronouncements and those practices, and we believe we are on the right side of the constitution. This is arbitrarily being done, this is unlawful, and this is unconstitutional," he said.
ZCTU to challenge "no jab no work'' policy
Source - OpenParlyZW
