A member of the workers’ committee at Anjin, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said“There is serious victimisation of workers and we no longer complain for fear of being fired. Of late, there has been arbitrary non-renewal of contracts, with the company citing viability problems.
Workers are being dismissed on flimsy charges and we believe they (the Chinese employers) are seeking to reduce their workforce without paying retrenchment costs. We are considering taking legal action because if we wait, we will all be victimised in the end.”
He said workers’ concerns such as the lack of protective clothing and late payment of salaries were not being addressed as the Chinese had instilled a lot of fear among the workers. “The workers committee has become redundant and workers have chosen to remain quiet rather than risk being fired,” he said.
Another worker who declined to be named said “We have been reduced to a bunch of slaves and most of us are afraid to complain for fear that contracts might not be renewed. Some of us have not been paid for two months while others have gone close to four months without pay and no one dares to engage the authorities because there is so much fear among the workers.”
As of last year, Anjin was reported to have retrenched 950 workers since they started their operations in 2010. Efforts to get a comment from the Public Relations Officer, Martha Chikata were fruitless. Anjin is a joint venture between the governments of Zimbabwe and China.
The Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Workers Union (ZIDAWU), Cosmas Sunguro, confirmed the violation of workers’ rights at Anjin. “We have tried to engage the authorities but they have not been forthcoming,” he said.
Post published in: Mining