Choppies accused of ill-treating workers

Employees from Choppies have decried ill-treatment and unfair dismissal from work by their management. They claim the injustices have taken away their job securities.
Allegations against Choppies management are these effects are heavily weighing on the permanent staff than the interns.
Sources who spoke to CITE on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation said they are being told to their faces, they are on the firing line.
“We are no longer free to do our job; we don’t know when we will be fired. Our manager (name supplied) tells us to our faces that he is bent on getting rid of all the permanent staff. There are times that he even uses the “F” word. It is so sad and unfair because as it stands the accusations, we are facing stem from cash variations that occurred last year. So far he has suspended three employees over such circumstances, and he boasts saying he has just dealt with the first batch he will get rid of us all,” said one source.
They said the security detail deployed at the shops is not allowed to be friendly with the staff as they are perceived as thieves.
“Security staff gets fired for being “friendly” with the shop staff. They are told to keep a closer eye on us more than anywhere else. When we finish work, we get security to escort us out of the premises lest we steal from the shop. Such working conditions are not conducive at all,” said a source.
They added “The labour union is not doing much to assist. When the dismissed employees approach the labour union, they don’t get much help. Somehow it feels as though the union is on the side of the company. It is so heart-breaking, and sometimes see the need for personal lawyers, but we can’t afford them. Even if we try and take these issues up with the other managers, they do not have the authority to deal with our issues.”
A worker who was recently fired said “When I got fired I had quite many leave days owed. I was shell-shocked when I received an insignificant amount of money. Out of fury, I confronted them that was when they started bringing out the letters in bits and pieces. Although I found a few of them I didn’t get all that was owed to me,” said the source.
Cite contacted Choppies headquarters for comment and a Mr S. Mpofu who expressed ignorance to such grievances.
“We are shocked to learn that our staff is facing such unfairness. We have always strived for an open door policy with our staff and have encouraged them to approach us whenever they need assistance. Had they approached us we would have done thorough investigations to establish the cause of such problems and find amicable solutions. It never came to our attention” said Mpofu.