Zisco pays off former workers
ZISCOSTEEL has paid off all salaries it owed its former employees and is working on clearing debts with service providers so that it resumes operations on a clean slate.
Ziscosteel, which used to be Zimbabwe’s major steel producer, with a capacity output of one million tonnes per year, in which 70 percent was exported, terminated its workers’ contracts in February 2015.
At its peak, Ziscosteel used to employ over 1 500 people, but was forced to close in 2008 as obsolete equipment no longer operated and new investment was not forthcoming.
In an interview yesterday, the workers committee chairman Mr Benedict Moyo said all former workers who were owed got their dues last week.
He said the workers however, felt shortchanged after the company calculated the outstanding salaries using the 1:1 rate.
“We were surprised, the company had stopped giving us our salaries in February. Remember they had promised to stagger our salaries on a monthly basis, but they just stopped in February this year. They calculated our salaries at 1:1 with the US dollar and cleared the outstanding arrears. We feel we were shortchanged here,” said Mr Moyo.
He said the workers got between $10 000 and $20 000 each and were still to get their pension and NSSA payouts.
“Our fear is that they are probably also calculating these using the 1:1 rate,” said Mr Moyo, who expressed hope that the new Ziscosteel board will save them.
Ziscosteel’s caretaker general manager, Mr Alois Gowo, confirmed that they were using the 1:1 rate.
He said the company was also processing pension and NSSA contributions for the former employees.
“It is true the former employees were cleared, but their complaint was that the calculations were done using the 1:1 rate with the USD. As for the pensions, the papers are being processed but because these former employees are scattered, it took time for all of them to come and fill in their papers,” he said.