The LRF Newsletter

Number 16 April/May, 2000

What's in the News?

Front page

LRF Legal Adviser

Around the Centres

Know your rights

Government sued over Police mistake

Police clamp down on Brothels

Public health and you

Back issues of
the LRF Newsletter

Dismissals at York Farm anger unionised workers

ork farm unionised workers have expressed worry at the rate at which they are being relieved of their duties at the farm, workers told the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF), when they launched a complaint at Chawama Centre recently.

Workers, who preferred anonymity for fear of victimisation, revealed that nearly five to ten workers are fired every month on what they described as petty issues.

One worker said their union has no voice because the management does not consider most of the decisions made by the union regarding its members.

“The union has no voice at York farm, they don’t even defend workers from dismissals neither do they fight for better conditions of service,” he said.

Adding that, “We want the union at the farm to be like these other unions that fight for their workers, than to just have the name of the union which does not do anything for its workers when it comes to management’s harsh decisions towards its workers. That should be the case because there is a union at the farm to represent workers,” he added.

Another worker noted that it was not healthy for a big farm like York farm to be losing workers on a monthly basis especially those that are highly skilled because of harsh decisions made by management.

And after workers are fired, the management take a long time to give out benefits to the affected workers. Each time workers complain about overdue benefits, the union allegedly refers the matter to their head office in Kabwe and this has been the culture for a long time, the workers complained.

Efforts to get a comment from the Human Resource Manager at the farm proved futile as he was reportedly out town.

“You can not see him, the boss is out of town,” said the visibly annoyed security man who could not even allow the LRF reporter entry into the farm.

Worker threatened Death over NRC

Chawama man who was employed as a casual worker at a Mr Nyirenda’s farm in Makeni, Lusaka, was recently threatened with death when he went to claim his money and his national registration card (NRC) from his former employers.

Mulenga, seeking help from the legal Resource Foundation (LRF) Chawama Centre, said that Mr Nyirenda, his former employer, threatened to shoot him when he went to claim the money he had worked for and the NRC that Nyirenda grabbed from him when he started work.

“I started work as a casual worker at the farm so after realising that I was not getting paid each month-end, I decided to stop working without even getting my money, except K 20, 000 that he gave me after complaining to him that I did not have food at home,” he said.

Mr Nyirenda had kept the card for more than three months.

Mulenga said upon Mr Nyirenda seeing him he was told to wait, saying he was going to get the money from inside the house, but he came out with bullets shouting that Mulenga could be shot if he continued pestering his former employers over his NRC and the money.

“He ordered me to get out of his yard while telling me the bullets would kill me if I continued asking him about the NRC,” he said.

“ While working at the farm my former boss gave me a wrist watch after he bought a new one, but after I stopped working for him he ordered me to give him back the watch which I did not have, and for that he assigned me to do some work if I was going to get my NRC of which I did but he never gave me the NRC,” he added.

“ I want someone to help me retrieve my NRC because I can not get another job as they are asking for that, but each time I go to ask for my NRC the man keeps on giving me jobs to do at his farm,” he said.

Mulenga who was chased off the farm, and later went and reported the matter to Chawama police Station who directed him to the Legal Resource Foundation Chawama Centre.

LRF Chawama Centre paralegal officer, Clement Mwale, who confirmed having received complaints from the victim said he advised Mulenga to report the threats to the police victim support unit.

“Hopefully the police would seriously consider the threats as they were very dangerous to human life especially that Mulenga had gone to his former employers to claim what belongs to him, both money and the NRC,” said Mumba.

Efforts to get Mr Nyirenda proved futile as he was reported to be out of town by press time.