Ten former Green Fuel employees have registered their agony over their ex-employer, Green Fuel, which they say is ruthless and makes workers toil under strict conditions.
The ten drivers vowed to fight the ethanol producing company through labour courts.
“We won’t rest until we rightfully secure all that the company owes us. We are optimistic that we will win the case,” said Gift Katsvairo, one of the drivers.
He also bemoaned the working conditions at Chisumbanje ethanol plant.
“We worked for more than 12 hours a day, driving vehicles which towed three trailers,” he said adding that there was no break and lunch time.
“We were unfairly dismissed because we asked for our salaries and the police was hired to drive us out. Upon chasing us the police had to use teargases which affected many young children, “said Katsvairo.
Simbarashe Makumbe echoed the sentiments above when he said they were all denied their retrenchment packages.
“We were illegally dismissed without any documentation, the only documents we received upon dismissal were recommendation letters.
The drivers who had gone for more than one year without payment, also claimed that they would drive up to 30,000 kilometers in a single week while carrying loads of up to 60,000 tonnes.
The drivers also claimed that they were being paid on the basis of kilometers driven. This implies that drivers had to travel at maximum speeds so as to earn high salaries.
‘We would drive from middle Sabi to Chisumbanje on high speeds,” said Makumbe.
Another driver Abius Dziro, who was unfairly dismissed for merely staring at one of his supervisors, said that for the eight months he drove for Green fuel, he was never paid.
“I have never enjoyed pay yepa green fuel. I worked for the company for eight months and I was never given any salary, “he said.
District Ethanol Plant Implementation Committee (DEPIC) representative, Claris Madhuku said this is not the first time the company has unfairly dismissed workers.
He also said that a total of 700 employees have been affected by this unfair practice.
Efforts to get a comment from Green Fuel General Manager, Conrad Rautenbach hit a brick wall as his mobile phone went unanswered at the time of publishing.
