The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) says it is concerned about the large number of companies retrenching workers this year in the country’s second largest city, Bulawayo.
The ZCTU said companies such as ZECO (Pvt) Limited, Kango Products, Cairns Foods and Bascode and Tashas supermarkets have so far laid off a total of 500 workers – and may retrench many more.
ZCTU secretary general Japhet Moyo said companies owned by black Zimbabweans are among those retrenching workers at a time when the government is engaged in an indigenization program to empower local people.
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Interview With Japhet Moyo
More than 1,000 workers lost their jobs in Bulawayo last year as companies shut down, claiming they had no access to private or public loans. At least 20,000 workers lost their jobs in the city between 2009 and 2012.
The government has struggled to implement a $40 million company rescue package aimed at providing cheap loans. The government launched the loan facility was launched in 2011.
