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council in their National Employment Council negotiations on salary increases.
Mr Edison Chinjekure is accused by the workers of siding with the employers in the negotiations. He has said he was unaware of the workers’ agitation against his chairmanship of the general council.
The workers said there was provision in their code of conduct which allowed employers’ and employees’ representatives, as co-vice-chairmen of the general council, to appoint the secretary general of the NEC to chair general council meetings.
The workers accused the employers of interfering in the determination of who should represent the workers’ in the general council negotiations.
Mr Chinjekure confirmed there were differences over representation of the parties at the general council.
“The position is that the employers and employee representatives engage in collective bargaining over the requisite number of three mandatory meetings, before going to general council,” he said.
“If they fail to agree in the three meetings the issue is referred to the general council. The question was whether the people who participated in initial negotiations were supposed to conciliate in coming up with a position at general council level.
“That was the point of departure. That the employers tried to interfere in determining who represents workers is a matter of perception.”
Efforts to obtain a comment from Insurance Employers Association of Zimbabwe chairman Mr Lawrence Gonye were unsuccessful as he was said to be out of his office. The general council would try to break the deadlock in the NEC negotiating committee. Its failure would result in the matter being referred to the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
Workers cited provisions of the insurance sector code of conduct and the Labour Act, which they claimed established their rights to representation.
Collective bargaining in the insurance sector started in January but there has been no headway so far, as the parties have disagreed on many issues.
When they failed to agree at the National Employment Council, the matter was referred to the supreme body, general council.
Notes from the last discussions revealed the parties disagreed on minimum pay increases for the period January to June this year.
Workers had proposed up to 280 percent adjustment while employers were only prepared to give a 3 percent increase on current salaries.
The workers had demanded a minimum salary of US$790 a month, contrasted sharply with a two percent adjustment for the whole year on the current minimum pay of US$237 offered by employers.
Workers had also demanded a US$44 transport allowance and a US$300 housing allowance, but the employers had rejected this, arguing the works council should determine the issues, not the NEC.
Employers cited low cash generation capacity, low economic growth and poor profitability, as well as subdued money market investment returns as the reasons for their inability to meet the workers’ “huge” demands.
They also argued that the Poverty Datum Line-linked minimum salary thresholds proposed by workers were beyond them.
Workers argued that some firms had awarded more than 15 percent salary increases and cited the spectre of elections, price increases and better performance by certain firms in justifying their demands.
They also claimed the millions of dollars in profits made by insurance firms were invested in properties yet the workers were not being fully rewarded for their sweat.