Workers accuse ministry officials of gross interference in NEC operations

Harare- WORKERS are accusing the Ministry of Labour and Social welfare officials of destabilizing the operations of National Employment Councils (NEC) through gross interference and working in cahoots with a disgruntled membership and briefcase unions commonly referred to as MONGOS ( My Own Non-Governmental Organisations),” Express Mail Zim can report.

Investigations have revealed that some ministry of labour officers are taking law unto themselves by interfering into the day to day functioning of the NECs to the extent that they now lack the autonomy.

The National Employment Council is a platform where employees and employers’ representatives meet to bargain workers’ remuneration and other conditions of service.
According to the Labour Act Chapter 28:01 as amended a National Employment Councils is a corporate body capable of suing and be sued.

Workers from the food sector said the Director of Labour acknowledges this.

“However, despite this acknowledgement, the Director himself and other labour officers at Compensation House still view NECs as appendages of his and those of other labour officers in particular one lady stationed at the ministry’s head office.
“The NECs are governed and controlled through their constitutions and the “Labour Act Chapter 20.01, in particular section 57 as amended in Labour Amendment number 11 of 2023 section 57 as amended 58 as amended and 63 A,” said one of the workers representatives.

He added:

“Section 60 of the Labour Act is clear in that all upon registration in terms of the Labour Act, they become corporate bodies.”

Workers said the Labour Amendment number 11 of 2023 was being used by officials from the ministry to interfere in the operations of the NECs.

“This Amendment has worsened the situation in that it has created a fertile ground upon which to interfere and whip in line those NECs deemed by the Director and Labour officers as non-compliant to their unscrupulous demands like sitting allowances paid to them when they attend their meetings”.

Some NECs like the NEC Food and Allied Industries are said to have refused to be merely frog marched.

In one instance, the very NEC questioned the logic of having an NECs symposium in Victoria Falls at Elephant Hills Hotel at the expense of the very NECs, when a central and less expensive venue would have been ideal.

The very NEC is being persecuted for further requesting to the Registrar of the Labour that they book their councillors in modest hotels or lodges in Victoria Falls when attending symposiums.

Workers said the director and his labour officers have now teamed up with a union that lost its rights to participate in the activities of the NEC in Supreme court.

“As part of further interference, the director and his labour officers have become advisors and teamed up with disgruntled union which lost its case in the Supreme Court in 2022.

They have become so interested in fighting in the corner of the disgruntled union and the registrar has gone to the extent of issuing deadlines to complete amendments to NEC constitutions with the desire to fight in the corner of the very union,” said the workers.

The workers accused one Runesu Dzimiri leader of a disgruntled memberless trade union of causing confusion at NEC Food and Allied sector.

Ironically, on Monday morning Dzimiri locked the NEC offices.
“Because he (Dzimiri) knows who is backing him, he had the audacity to manhandle NEC staff and lock them out on Monday at the offices at Belvedere and took over operations.”
In an interview Dzimiri said he locked the offices as he wanted a share of the seats claiming that the term of office bearers had expired in the NEC Food council on 31 December 2023.

However, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity agreed that the tenure has “expired” but said that there was a critical legislative change in September 2023 (before the expiry of the term of office in December 2023).

‘There is a critical legislation which changed the complexion of certain sections of the NEC constitution in particular on the admission of new members, sharing of seats and allocation of votes and observers,” he said.

“As these requirements as contained in Amendment number 11 of 2023 are peremptory NEC Food Executive Committee then put a subcommittee in September 2023 to kickstart the process of amending the very constitution.

This has frustrated Dzimiri after having lied to the few members affiliated to his federation and with the backing of the ministry officials, he has decided to force his way into the NEC offices ignoring the Labour Act. Please also note that the guy has interests only in two subsector undertakings of the Food and Allied Industries, that is, in Meat, Fish, Poultry and Abattoirs Sector and Baking subsector. Meat Fish subsector has a total employmentship of slightly over one thousand and his union has less than 150 members and only 176 members in the Baking.

“The NEC Food and Allied Industries has almost 19 700 members”.

One official who is in the executive of NEC who is privy to the goings on at ZCTU where Dzimiri is the deputy secretary, said he (Dzimiri) was fighting for his own survival and that he no longer has a viable constituency and has no seats in the NEC Food and Allied Industries.

Investigations carried out revealed that workers in the Food sector have made it clear that they will take the law into their own hands if Dzimiri continues to interfere and intimidate staff at NEC offices.