Employees at one of Zimbabwe’s leading security companies, Fawcett, staged a sit-in at the company’s main offices in Bulawayo, Monday, demanding a salary review.
The employees refused to go to their designated work stations, Monday, demanding that their employers address their grievances.
Some workers who spoke to CITE on condition of anonymity said they have been trying to engage their superiors since last year but their cries went unheard.
“We want money. The salaries that we are getting are extremely low. We are being given a paltry amount in RTGS and some USD. That USD amount is deducted from the RTGS amount. At the end of the day we remain with nothing,” one of the employees said.
“We started this engagement with them last year around February but they seem to care less about our plight. We really hope that they will consider our concerns and address them accordingly.”
The employees said the company keeps buying new vehicles for its operations but not addressing the issue of salaries.
“They keep buying new vehicles for their operations yet we are getting peanuts. They also staff in the offices who get a lot of money. We cannot keep working under such conditions,” one of them said.
Another employee said she has a child who is supposed to sit for public examinations and the salary she gets is far from enough.
“I have a child who is in form four now. The examination registration fee is very expensive. I can’t make ends meet, we need our salaries to be reviewed upwards,” she said.
Another said: “We are family men. We rent houses, the whole salary goes towards rentals. We have children and wives to take care of. Some of us have been left by our wives because of this situation. We really need a salary raise because we are barely coping.”
A representative from the workers’ committee, Last Muzondo, addressed the workers after a lengthy meeting with the management but the workers were not satisfied with the management’s offer.
“We have talked to the management, and what we have relayed to you is what they offered. We did not agreed to this offer either because the money is too little. We shall go back and engage them further,” Muzondo said.
The workers demanded that the management reviews their salaries upwards and not deduct the USD amount from the RTGS amount.
They said until their grievances are addressed to their satisfaction, they will not resume their duties.
