TELECEL workers, who are demanding a 733,3% salary increment, have threatened to down tools if the mobile network operator fails to hike their pay from $1 200 to $10 000.
BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO
The workers yesterday revealed to NewsDay that they would today meet management led by chief executive officer Angeline Vere to deliberate on remuneration.
Due to the COVID-19 lockdown effects, Telecel reportedly cut its employees’ salaries by $800 in April.
On Friday the workers met with the executive whom they say failed to raise salaries by 30% as agreed in February.
Business, Communications and Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general, David Mhambare told NewsDay that today’s meeting was meant to bargain for a “meaningful” increment failure of which would result in a job action across the country.
“We are meeting the management on Monday (today) to discuss a meaningful salary increment. Right now workers are getting as little as $1 200. The 30% increment agreed upon in February has not yet been implemented without an explanation,” he said.
“We are expecting a minimum salary of $10 000 and our message is that if nothing concrete comes up on Monday all Telecel workers around Zimbabwe will withdraw labour. I will provide finer details about our position once we conduct the meeting,”
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“We have presented our part of the bargain through the National Employment Council.”
Mhambare said management salaries were shrouded in secrecy.
“A senior engineer is taking home $6 000. Their salaries are shrouded in secrecy and their lackadaisical approach to our concerns suggests that they are earning a lot,” he said.
In February, the workers downed tools in protest over network inefficiency, coupled with poor resourcing within the troubled entity and Mhambare said: “It’s actually now worse than before.”
Last year, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe reported that Telecel subscribers went down from 1 080 606 to 1 027 445, registering a 4,9 % decline in the second quarter of 2019.
This is despite the fact that Econet and NetOne subscriber bases grew 1,3% and 6,1% respectively.
