Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

The Zimbabwe United Methodist Church (UMC) described as “a betrayal of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” a decision by its mother body to recognise homoƨǝxuality. This comes after General Conference delegates of the UMC early this week, in the United States, voted overwhelmingly in favour of homoƨǝxual practices in the church that has a footprint […]

The post Controversy erupts as United Methodist Church embraces homosexuality, Zimbabwean delegation fumes first appeared on My Zimbabwe News.

Source: Teachers divided over job action – The Standard

A Serious fallout is simmering among unions representing teachers over differences in tactics to force the government to give in to their demands when schools open tomorrow.

The friction has resulted in the unions splitting into two different camps — Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Union (Fozeu) and the Federation of Educators Union of Zimbabwe (Feuz).

 

Fozeu members are Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz), Educators Union of Zimbabwe (EUZ) Zimbabwe Visually Impaired Teachers Union and Professional Educators Union of Zimbabwe

Under the Feuz, there is the Zimbabwe Teachers Association(Zimta), Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Ptuz), Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ), Zimbabwe Democratic Teachers Union (ZDTU), Zimbabwe National Educators Union (ZiNEU), Zimbabwe National Teachers Union (Zinatu), Zimbabwe Rural Teachers Union (Zirutu) and the Zimbabwe National Union of School Heads (Zinush) .

The Fozeu have declared industrial action when schools open tomorrow to press the government to pay teachers a minimum wage of US$1 260.

However, the Feuz, which has the majority of the teachers’ representatives, has stated that their members will report for duty to give room for dialogue.

Feuz is demanding a minimum wage of US$840.

Leaders of teachers unions have thrown accusations at each other as the government refuses to give in to their demands, with those opting for dialogue labelled sellouts.

The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Ptuz) pulled out from Fozeu following its decision not to negotiate for better salaries under the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC).

Fozeu chairperson, who is also Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) president, Obert Masaraure said they could not negotiate with the government because there was no forum for such negotiations to take place.

“We are not part of the NJNC because its establishment is unconstitutional,” Masaraure said.

“Our position at Fozeu is that we do not participate in the NJNC because it is a fraud.”

In a statement on Friday, Fozeu said it had resolved during the Workers Day celebrations to call for its members to down tools as schools open tomorrow.

But teachers represented under the Feuz said their members would report for duty tomorrow.

Feuz leader Akuneni Maphosa, who is also president of the Zimta, said they believed in progressive negotiations with the government for better salaries.

“As Feuz we have no position of a strike at the moment,” said Maphosa.  “Our position is that unions must carry out their consultations. We are still following the trajectory of negotiation where we talk with the government and push for better salaries.

“We want US$840 as basic salary. We believe in consultations as the way to go at the moment.”

Ptuz secretary general Raymond Majongwe said the union was not apologetic about leaving Fozeu.

“We believe in collective efforts,” he said.  “We must speak with one voice rather than going separate ways. We need to unite workers.

“We are a very small working class, so if we are going to create so many splinters, we are not doing justice to our cause. The employer will be threatened if we speak with one voice and act collaboratively.”

The government in March offered teachers and other civil servants a US$20 pay increase and other incentives, such as free school fees for their children and housing loans.

But the teachers have rejected that offer as insignificant.

In 2022, authorities suspended striking teachers for three months without salaries in a pay dispute.

The pay dispute goes back to October 2018, when the government stopped paying teachers in United States dollars, switching to the reintroduced Zimbabwean dollar in 2019.

 

The post Teachers divided over job action appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Ex-Zupco workers clash with management – The Southern Eye

FORMER workers at the State-owned Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) in Bulawayo are up in arms with management over outstanding salaries and allowances dating back to 2022.

The disgruntled ex-Zupco workers have since petitioned the National Employment Council for Transport Operators Industry (NECPT) to lobby on their behalf.

“They (management) keep giving us false promises” one of the affected employees said.

It is further alleged that the former workers were not given Covid-19 allowances.

“We were not given Covid allowances as promised and we were told that bonuses for 2022 would only be given to those who remained at work yet we worked the whole year,” another affected employee said.

NECPT finance regional manager Ephias Kwenda declined to comment and referred Sunday Southern Eye to the Zupco chief executive officer Tineyi Rwasoka.

Efforts to get comments from him were fruitless.

The post Ex-Zupco workers clash with management appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Poor turnout at Bulawayo Workers Day celebrations – The Southern Eye

BULAWAYO held this year’s Workers’ Day commemorations at the Small City Hall, a departure from yesteryears when thousands of workers would converge at the White City Stadium to celebrate the day.

But even then, attendance was so poor the Small City Hall was almost empty.

 

Bulawayo used to be the country’s industrial hub in the early years after independence.

However, many buildings of the once giant Belmont industrial centre are now home to churches of various denomination as many companies have downsized, relocated or closed shop because of the harsh economic environment.

In an interview, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Western Region chairperson Ambrose Sibindi, said the Workers Day was a grim reminder of the city’s deindustrialisation.

“We are seeing that in the majority of cases we are having companies that have closed and some operations having started to scale down,” Sibindi said.

“That alone is not good for us, meaning to say that this has caused a high level of unemployment in Bulawayo and in Zimbabwe as a whole simply because companies are not functioning.

“I know there was a promise from the government sometime that they would create two million jobs, but this has not materialised and employment figures keep going down.”

The majority of the working population in the city are now into informal vending while others have crossed borders to South Africa in search of greener pastures.

“Yes, some may say that people are employed in the informal sector, but truly speaking those people are not formalised and no one can come up with clear statistics on how many there are and some are even operating in areas which are not designated and proper for their trading,” Sibindi added.

Former ZCTU western region regional officer Percy Mcijo, who now heads Streetwise Informal Traders Association (Swita) said Bulawayo was now a ghost city after about 60% of companies closed last year.

Indications are that a significant number of companies in the city are now operating at between 20% and 25% capacity.

“Our surveys indicate that between 40% and 45% of companies relocated and about 75% of workers also lost their jobs either through retrenchment, company closures, relocation or downsizing,” he said.

“This increased poverty levels while the crime rate also rose.

“Government needs to have deliberate policies to attract investment in the city and it must fund the revival of the Cold Storage Commission (CSC) and National Railways of Zimbabwe.”

In the central business district, most shops have been subdivided into tuckshops or second hand clothing and grocery shops.

“Workers must advocate for an all stakeholders meeting with the government facilitating the process and providing necessary resources to retool the industry,” Mcijo said.

During the government of national unity between 2009 and 2013, the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas fund (Dimaf) was launched to capitalise affected industries with Bulawayo being one of the most affected areas.

The government allocated US$40 million towards Dimaf, but stakeholders said the funding was inadequate to meet the demand of the companies affected.

The government also introduced the $70 million Zimbabwe Economic and Trade Revival Facility, but the initiative did little to revive closed industries.

Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union secretary general Justice Chinhema, said mine workers were suffering in silence due to unfair labour practices.

“The government and employers in the sector need to lend an ear to the concerns of the mine workers as much as possible to ensure that they are addressed, not the current situation where workers have been turned into slaves by employers,” he said.

The post Poor turnout at Bulawayo Workers Day celebrations appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Zim’s wheat farmers struggle to get payments – The Standard

Wheat farmers in some parts of Zimbabwe are singing the blues despite recent government assurances that all outstanding grain payments would have been paid by the end of last month.

It has emerged that most wheat farmers are swimming in debt and failing to honour their debts, including paying wages to farm workers.

The government, through the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), has not made good on its promises made recently by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka that outstanding payments would be made.

In separate interviews with this publication commercial and small scale wheat farmers in Mashonaland West spoke of the hardships they are facing in their farming operations due to late payments of wheat.

The wheat was delivered to GMB in October last year.

 

Others said they had maintained minimum farming operations while making losses due to what they referred to as  “strings attached”, which do not make it easy to  quit farming such as the government-funded Pfumvudza farming schemes.

The plight of farmers and farm workers was also highlighted at last week’s Workers Day celebrations where labour representatives revealed that in some cases labourers had gone for more than six months without wages.

According to statistics, last season Zimbabwe had a bumper harvest of 2.3 million tonnes of maize against the yearly requirement of about 1.8 million tonnes.

Disgruntled farmers said despite these figures being proof of improved production, the government was not complementing their efforts as shown by delayed payments.

“Farmers are already in the middle of the 2023/24 season with wheat deliveries of 2022/23 season yet to be paid,” said one Chegutu farmer, asking that he be not identified.

“The few that have been paid were only given the RTGS component. The  nostro payments are still outstanding.”

Farmers who have paid in local currency said they were getting a raw deal as foreign currency exchange rates had gone up more than 1 000% since last October when the wheat was delivered to GMB.

The government  says it will pay wheat farmers 75% in US dollars and 25% in local currency for their produuce.

“How justifiable is it to let farmers get into the next season without being paid for deliveries done the previous season?

“How is the farmer expected to run farming as a business when his or her produce is being delivered for a song if any?

“Wheat farmers were assured from the onset of the season that the government had this time around put measures in place for prompt payment of any deliveries after 72 hours to be precise,” said a female farmer.

“Farmers rushed to the  Grain Marketing Board with their produce in anticipation of the 72-hour payment after delivering.

“The 72-hour payment became a week, month, months and now into the year 2023/24 season with wheat deliveries of last season still unpaid for.”

The farmers said speculation was rife that those being paid timeously were politically  connected.

“These are the few enjoying the profits of their farming ventures and who shout out loudly that those not producing should have their farms repossessed,” claimed another farmer.

Selous farmer Graeme Vaughn revealed that he had not been paid both the rtgs and the nostro components.

“Unfortunately, there are few people earning a lot of money but the farmers on the ground trying to produce  food for the country are sinking because of it,” said Vaughn.

“I have not been paid both the local currency and the nostro components to this day.”

Vaughn said another major problem bedevilling grain farmers was that the country continued to import grain during harvest period, a move he claimed was driving prices down for the local farmer even though production costs were a lot higher than they used to be five years ago.

Vaughan has had to liquidate assets worth US$220 000 because of the current market prices.

“So, I am in a situation that I am having to take a 55% loss on assets to cover loans that should have been paid off by payments from the wheat I delivered (to GMB),” he said.

“I also have farm workers striking because I am unable to pay them. The government will collapse the farming sector in this country if they continue on this path.

“I am  now being forced to sell my assets in order to pay off loans because I have not been paid.”

Another farmer from Darwendale Humprey Mugwada said he had been paid only the local currency component.

“Delayed payments just disturb the cycle of production because crops have to fund each other,” Mugwada said.

“This year I could not  plant the intended hectares of maize. I received fertiliser and seed early but one needs diesel for land preparation, planting and application of chemicals.

“One will also need money for wages, repairs and maintenance, personal upkeep that is money needed.

“I am stuck with overpriced seed and fertiliser, which is accumulating interest monthly.”

Mugwada said the GMB prices and payment modalities were discouraging most farmers from growing maize in large quantities.

“We should be having adequate reserves to last us the drought year and more without extending the begging bowl,” he said.

Former Zimbabwe Indigenous Commercial Farmers Union President Wonder Chabikwa said most of the challenges facing farmers were man-made.

Chabikwa said those allowing the status quo to remain were benefiting while the farmer remained poorer.

GMB’s public relations department did not respond to questions from this publication despite having received them.

Masuka recently said the government, through both fiscal and monetary authorities, was  expected to unveil new macroeconomic stability measures aimed at preserving value of the local currency.

“Yes, the government apologises profusely for the delay, this has been occasioned by the delay by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, who are the buyers of the strategic grain reserves,” he said.

“When we get this money we pass on immediately to the Grain Marketing Board to pay farmers.

“All the Zimbabwe dollar payments for wheat have been fully met. Some component of the US dollar outstanding payment has been made.

“What has been outstanding is US$$34,9 million and the government is committed to pay this outstanding amount before the end of April 2024.

“Government profusely apologises for the delay, we will ensure that this will not recur.

“Farmers must draw confidence from these measures we are taking and that we will be able to pay timeously.”

On exchange rate volatility, Masuka said the government had adopted a deliberate strategy to pay timeously the local currency component and the amounts would be indexed to the prevailing  exchange rate of the day and not on the day the crop was delivered.

But with April having come and gone, the bulk of wheat farmers continue to sing the blues with their workers breathing down their necks for outstanding wages

The post Zim’s wheat farmers struggle to get payments  appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.