Fawcett employees stage sit-in over salaries

Zim Now Writer

Workers at Fawcett, one of the country’s biggest private security companies, staged a sit-in at the company’s main offices in Bulawayo yesterday, demanding a salary review.

The employees refused to go to their designated workstations, demanding that their employers address their grievances.

Some of the employees said they have been trying to engage their superiors since last year but no one listened to their grievances.

“We want money. The salaries that we are getting are extremely low. We are being given a paltry amount in RTGS and some USD. That USD amount is deducted from the RTGS amount. At the end of the day, we remain with nothing,” one of the employees alleged.

“We started this engagement with them last year around February but they seem to care less about our plight. We really hope that they will consider our concerns and address them accordingly.”

The workers alleged that the company keeps buying new vehicles for its operations and yet is not addressing their salary grievances.

“They keep buying new vehicles for their operations yet we are getting peanuts. They also have staff in the offices who get a lot of money. We cannot keep working under such conditions,” one of them said.

A workers’ committee representative, Last Muzondo, addressed the workers after a meeting with the management but the workers said the management’s offer was too little.

“We have talked to the management, and what we have relayed to you is what they offered. We did not agreed to this offer either because the money is too little. We shall go back and engage them further,” Muzondo said.

The workers said they want an upward review of their salaries and that the employer must not deduct the USD component from the RTGS amount, adding that they will not resume their duties until their grievances are addressed satisfactorily.