NMWUZ), NEC in salary fight
WORKERS under the National Mine Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (NMWUZ) have accused the mining sector’s National Employment Council (NEC) of not timeously processing cases of underpayment and non-payment.
NMWUZ members besieged NewsDay offices in Bulawayo yesterday, accusing the NEC of failing to effectively discharge its mandate.
“We have a challenge with NEC mining which is failing to discharge its duty effectively. They are failing to release draft rulings on time. For instance, some of us have cases backdated 2010 that are yet to be processed. Surely, how can we work? We approached our union leaders and they told us that NEC was delaying everything..,” a worker, who requested anonymity, said.
Workers said cases which the NEC was struggling to process included underpayment and non-payment.
“Workers are suffering yet NEC is dillydallying. Some of them have died without getting their dues. Surprisingly, workers belonging to the Associated Mineworkers’ Union of Zimbabwe (AMWUZ) are getting their papers processed on time,” said another worker.
“We have a challenge now with our membership due to NEC mining’s failure to execute its duties on time. Workers are accusing us of not doing our job, yet it’s the NEC. We have tried to engage them on several occasions to no avail,” he said.
Another NMWUZ official, Shadreck Pelewelo, said justice delayed was justice denied.
“NEC was put in place to do cases expeditiously. It should not delay justice. Some people have died without getting justice. Some of the cases are small like non-payment and underpayment. Remember, justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.
Contacted for comment, NEC mining sector senior designated agent Jeffrey Dube said workers needed to be specific on which cases they were referring to.
“They need to be specific not be general so that we refer the case to the secretary general who is responsible for the Press. We also don’t know about favouritism they are talking about,” he said.
Acting NEC secretary-general for the mining sector, Archibald Tahwa, was said to be in a meeting when NewsDay sought a comment from him._NewsDay