The employees have filed an urgent interdict at the labour court to stop the company being sold, citing unfair labour practice and saying the owners did not offer them first refusal. The Managing Director, Wally Johnson, refused to comment on the allegations. The employees allege that Fawcett Security Company will take over the company on June 1st.
According to the Chairman of the Workers Committee, Gilbert Matarutse, the staff were not consulted on the issue of the company being sold and they found out that Fawcett will take on board only a quarter of the employees countrywide. The fate of the rest is unknown.
What the management did is unfair as they did not even consult us on whether we could run the company on our own. What is to become the personnel that will not be employed by Fawcett? said Matarutse. Securitas employs about 1200 people nationwide, 243 of them in Bulawayo. Matarutse said when the management received the court order they threatened the staff, saying if they did not withdraw their application, none of them would get paid.
The companys labour consultant and major shareholder told the Harare employees that they would not get their May salaries unless they withdrew the court order, he said. Securitas is allegedly facing cash flow problems and owes the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) $750 000.
Another employee from Bulawayo, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Securitas was defying the law by moving office furniture out before the court outcome. The case is set to appear in court during the week. We do not know what is going on, but the office furniture in our Bulawayo office is being moved out. We dont know why they (employers) are doing this as the court has not made a ruling yet, said the employee.
The employee said what was unfair was that the management never bothered to tell them the company was changing hands on June 1 until May 5. The employee revealed that the management was already in the process of transferring its clients and their contracts to Fawcett.
Post published in: News