A TRADE union representing diamond industry workers has petitioned Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando to halt mass retrenchments by the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC).
The retrenchments have sparked a fierce backlash from the Chiadzwa Community Ownership Trust (CCSOT) and villagers.
As previously reported by this publication, the state-owned gem miner has been downsizing amid plummeting global diamond prices.
The crisis deepened last week when Mutapa Investment Fund, ZCDC’s parent company, ordered the termination of a joint venture sales agreement with a Dubai-based firm.
In a last-ditch effort to save jobs, the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (Zdamwu) has called for government intervention.
In a July 9 letter to Chitando, Zdamwu secretary-general Justice Chinhema demanded alternative solutions to revive production and prevent further layoffs at the struggling miner.
The correspondence, which was also copied to ZCDC, reads: “We write to you to express our grave concern and to urgently seek your intervention regarding the purported retrenchment exercise currently being orchestrated by the ZCDC.
“This exercise, when concluded, will leave over 600 workers destitute, many of whom are burdened with loans obtained from banks guaranteed by the employer on the strength of continued employment.
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“We respectfully urge your office to halt the retrenchment process and urge ZCDC management to explore viable measures that protect jobs, as well as promote production.”
Chinhema’s letter further implores Chitando to protect the interests of workers, while exploring ways to promote value addition at ZCDC.
“So far, ZCDC has sent over 290 workers home through voluntary retrenchment and has started initiating compulsory retrenchment, targeting 300 workers, which we believe is unjustified, careless, and inhuman,” excerpts from the letter read.
“We respectfully urge your office to engage with ZCDC and the union to explore alternative measures such as retraining, value addition, and beneficiation, or any other schemes that minimise job losses. Protect the rights and livelihoods of the affected workers and their families from being rendered destitute.”
The firm, according to internal correspondence seen by the Independent, has been struggling to pay salaries.
The trade union also expressed this concern, and noted that workers laid off were still being owed outstanding salaries.
“Those already opted for the voluntary retrenchment have not been paid, and there is no plan in place addressing the payments, and the majority of the retrenched will find themselves without income or support, sending them into destitution,” it said.
“Our country is ambitiously striving to achieve middle-income status by 2030; such a retrenchment exercise appears counterproductive and detrimental to our national development goals.
The timing is particularly alarming given that the government’s economic policies emphasise employment creation, social stability, and inclusive growth.”
Efforts to understand how Chitando was addressing the matter drew blanks.
The CCSOT has also urged ZCDC to freeze the retrenchment.
ZCDC was formed in 2016 after the government revoked the licenses of the seven firms which were given the nod to extract diamonds in Chiadzwa.
The move was necessitated by the government’s claims that the firms were understating their earnings. At the inception of ZCDC, the government injected US$80 million into the firm.
