Workers at paint-making concern, Splash Paints and Plastics have downed tools over poor wages and unpleasant working conditions at its Workington plant in Harare, 263Chat Business has established.
Operations came to a halt yesterday around lunch time following an altercation between workers and management over salary adjustments in US dollars.
The workers allege to have been threatened with dismissal for raising their grievances, prompting the mass action.
This morning workers were picketing outside the company premises as they waited for the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and National Employment Council (NEC) officials to guide them on the way forward.
Information gathered by this publication revealed a plethora of grievances among the workers.
The workers at the paint making section are alleging that they are ill-equipped with safety clothing which includes specialized masks for chemical handling.
Some do not have safety shoes to work with and each worker is only entitled to one work suit.
Workers are subjected to 12-hour shifts and they are not entitled to holidays or off days. Failure to report for duty is reciprocated with immediate dismissal, it’s alleged.
A worker who spokes on conditions of anonymity said last Sunday evening, a worker was seriously injured by a machine around 10 pm and was only taken to hospital in the morning as management prioritized investigating circumstances that led to the accident instead of rushing the worker to the hospital.
Splash Paints and Plastics manager, Ajid Nair declined to comment on the allegations highlighted by the workers when 263Chat called him for comment.
The paint maker’s Indian owners are further alleged to be ill-treating workers at the company including demanding workers to eat lunch with their masks on.
The development comes at a time there is public outcry over the ill-treatment of indigenous workers by foreign nationals operating locally.
This follows an incident involving a Chinese national who shot his employees in Gweru this week.
Across the country, workers and employers are at loggerheads over remuneration in USD as the local currency continues to lose its value.
