HARARE City Council has threatened to withhold salaries for
striking nurses and take disciplinary measures because their job action was
illegal, NewsDay can reveal.
About 600 council nurses are on strike. In a memorandum
seen by NewsDay dated November 20, the council, acting human capital director
Matthew Marara cautioned nurses that if they are to receive their salaries they
have to discontinue their industrial action.
“I have learnt with sadness that most of these ‘striking’
nurses have not taken heed of my call. I will reiterate that the action by the
absenting nurses is illegal and in terms of Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) and
section 108 (4), the employer is not obliged to pay employees not reporting for
duty to render services as per their employment contracts,” Marara wrote.
Marara’s previous memo to the nurses’ union on November 4,
directed them to report for duty while dialogue for better salaries was
underway and made reference to the talks in the recent memo.
“Accordingly, council shall proceed and apply the legal
principle ‘no work no pay’ and withhold payment of salaries in respect of all
the nurses who are not reporting for their duties with effect from the dates
they started absconding their duties. Council will continue to withhold the
nurses’ salaries up until the time when the striking nurses report for their
duty to render services,” Marara said.
“Nevertheless, continued strike action shall inevitably
call for disciplinary action.”
Zimbabwe Urban and Rural Council Nurses Workers’ Union
secretary-general Tedious Chisango dismissed the threats, saying the only
condition for returning to work was when their demand for better salaries was
addressed.
“The nurses are not moved by those threats; all they demand
is their salaries. If you are trapped between a hard rock and a rough surface,
you cannot move and that is the situation with the nurses right now,” Chisango
said.
Chisango accused council of being insincere to their plight
as it has failed to meet them to address the issues at hand.
“The same excuse, he doesn’t want to recognise us and we
have to go through the NEC (National Employment Council) ,” he said.
The union wrote to the NEC and are yet to get feedback,
Chisango said. Newsday
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