BY JAMES MUTASA

The Labour Court has given a gleam of hope to 17 employees who were unfairly dismissed in 2020 by Afrochine Smelting Private Limited by reinstating their matter back to the court role, a decision which has resulted in their employer calling for an out of court settlement.

“The Respondent being in default of appearance, the application for condonation for late filing of heads of argument and proof of service as required by the Labour Court Rules, 2017 be and is hereby granted,” reads part of Justice Bridget Tapiwa Chivizhe Chivizhe’s order.

“The heads of argument and proof of service are deemed as properly filed in the matter under reference LCH660/23.  The matter is hereby reinstated onto the court roll,’ the judge concluded much to the contentment of the allegedly unlawfully dismissed employees,” she went on.

The 17 former Afrochine employees were dismissed in 2020 following charges of participating in an illegal strike, allegations they denied. After being charged and dismissed the employees through their trade union, the National Union of Metal and Allied Industries in Zimbabwe (NUMAIZ) referred the matter to the National Employment Council for the Ferro-Alloy Industry.

In her determination the NEC Designated agent Caith Kurehwa ruled that, “the matter be remitted back to the disciplinary Committee and conduct disciplinary process in terms of the relevant statutory instrument within 30 days of receipt of this determination.”

Afrochine ignored Kurehwa’s determination leading to NUMAIZ referring the matter to the Labour Court.

“We have received a notification from Afrochine indicating that they want to engage the employees they dismissed from employment in 2020 on flimsy allegations of holding an illegal strike.” NUMAIZ General Secretary, Henry Tarumbira told The Worker.

‘Afrochine Smelting openly told us that they intent to make peace with the aggrieved employees without involving the courts. This wave is as a result of a recent Labour Court order by Justice Chivizhe,” added Tarumbira.