THE Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) is locked in a dispute over gratuities with pensioners backdated to 2020 despite the matter having spilled to the Labour Court.
This emerged in Parliament last week when Hwange East legislator Joseph Bonda asked for a progress report from the Mines and Mining Development ministry regarding the matter.
At least 100 former workers at HCCL are still awaiting their gratuities 25 years after they retired or were retrenched from work.
Bonda asked to government to explain to the National Assembly how it will deal with the issue of the pensioners' gratuities.
“I request the Minister of Mines and Mining Development to brief the House on measures taken by the government to ensure the payment of pensioners’ gratuity by Hwange Colliery from the year 2000,” he said.
In response, Mines and Mining Development deputy minister Polite Kambamura said Hwange Colliery was a company quoted on the Zimbabwe and London stock exchanges, which was under reconstruction.
“Considering this, it is not proper to sell the company's shares since the workers are part of the parent company, given that it is a listed company under administration,” he said.
However, Bonda said the response was not convincing.
- ZITF: The hits, misses of 62nd edition
- ZITF: The hits, misses of 62nd edition
- Zimcodd launches #HowFar 2.0 campaign
- Mnangagwa defends Chinamasa appointment
Keep Reading
“My question is, prior, there were shares that were sold to workers and what is the position of the workers on those shares that were sold to Hwange employees, were they paid for those shares or they are still available? I want to know about the percentage of those shares.”
Kambamura maintained that Hwange Colliery was under administration.
“So, I want to refer that question to the Ministry of Justice,” he said.
HCCL and the pensioners have been involved in protracted talks over gratuities resulting in the former workers approaching the Labour Court to force the company to pay.
Sometime in 2014, HCCL locked pensioners out of company houses they had been occupying for over two decades in a bid to force them to withdraw a case against the company over unpaid gratuities.
The company said the law stipulated that after three months of being pensioned off, one should vacate a company house.
The issue of the former workers still residing at the company houses is still pending as the former are demanding their gratuities before they move out.
