To the Editor Labour dispute upsurge disconcerting

THE number of companies which are being taken to court by their workers has been going up from the beginning of the year and this is now a cause of concern.

I hope the responsible Ministry of Labour will do something as a matter of urgency if we are to see this country back on its feet. The fact is that most companies these days simply don’t want to respect their employees by paying them decent wages which can last until the next pay day.

We have seen that some of these workers are being evicted from the houses they are staying in since they are not able to pay rent anymore. We have been talking about these companies who forget that they are what they are today because of these hard working employees.

Recently we read about two companies which have reportedly being sued by their workers for non-payment of the 13th cheque which is popularly known as bonus.

The workers complained that they had worked very well for the companies and in the process meeting and exceeding the set targets but it came to them as a big surprise that these companies were now changing the goal posts about paying their workers bonus, which is in their contracts.

The Government should force companies to pay their workers decent salaries which include the controversial 13th cheque.

It is disappointing that most precious time is wasted in the courts when workers drag their employers to court on labour disputes. This is not good for the country

Most workers spend the whole day without eating anything since the money they earn is not enough for them to buy food for them during working hours as well as for their families.

Most companies continue to pay their workers paltry salaries which are below the poverty datum line.

More pupils were sent back home when schools opened for this term while some parents were taken to courts for nonpayment of bills.

Most parents had their properties attached by messenger of courts for defaulting in paying for the rentals.

I’m appealing to our Government to work very hard and bring order in our industries before this situation gets out of hand.

We lost many hard working Zimbabweans to neighbouring countries where they are getting better treatment.

If we entertain any hopes of seeing our country’s economy recover the employers should pay us living wages because things are very hard in Zimbabwe at the moment. Eddious Masundire Shumba, Bulawayo.