Feature: Workers commemorate workers' day as more job losses loom in Zimbabwe

The theme "Workers under siege: Arise and fight" aptly sums up the tone of the 2015 Workers' Day commemorations in Zimbabwe on Friday.

Many workers face an uncertain future as companies continue to close down in the face of biting economic hardships.

Workers in both the public and private sectors do not know what the future holds for them as their employers fail to fulfill conditions of service, pay salaries late, lay off some of them and in worst case scenarios close down their factories.

Peter Ngara, a fruit vendor selling bananas from a push-cart, said he was once in formal employment but lost his job when his company closed down in 2014.

"I suppose we have to accept the plight of the worker," he said. "We have witnessed many workers being laid off without any compensation and it appears we are going to see many more company closures."

Ngara has joined scores of other vendors selling fruit, vegetables, second hand clothing and electrical gadgets on street pavements in the Central Business District.

"I just want to survive. I sell my bananas for 1 U.S. dollar for a bunch of 10, but when evening falls and I have made little sales, I dispose of them for 1 dollar to 15 or so.

"I have realised that despite the competition in town, I just have to come and find a spot to sell from, otherwise my children will starve," he said.

In government, workers heaved sighs of relief on April 18 when President Robert Mugabe reversed an earlier announcement by Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa suspending the payment of annual bonuses to civil servants for the next two years.

Addressing Independence Day commemorations, Mugabe said the suspension was null and void because the minister had not sought Cabinet approval and that the payment of bonuses was now considered to be a right for the workers.

Chinamasa, chief revenue collector Gershem Pasi and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe John Mangudya had also provoked the ire of workers and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) when they suggested that salaries of civil servants should be slashed.

The government is also planning to retrench part of its 554,000 strong workforce arguing that more than 90 percent of revenue is going towards employment costs, leaving very little for capital expenditure.

Among the local authorities, Harare City Council is two months behind with its salary obligations, while Gweru City Council workers went on strike early in the week over salary arrears.

Workers at the state-run National Railways of Zimbabwe have not been paid for 10 months.

In the private sector, industrial capacity utilization has declined to around 35 percent while recent statistics from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) show that 87 companies shut down in 2014, up from 44 the previous year, while a total of 13,647 workers were dismissed between 2011 and September 2014.

Nearly 10,000 people lost their jobs in 2013 following the closure of about 75 companies; while the number of companies placed under judicial management also rose from 51 in 2013 to 60 by the end of 2014.

Reasons for company closure include poor corporate governance, lack of lines of credit and use of obsolete equipment which raises the cost of production.

ZCTU secretary-general Japhet Moyo told local media that the union would join the rest of the world in commemorating Workers Day on Friday.

"Many journalists are asking me whether there is anything to celebrate when workers are facing such daunting challenges.

ZCTU accuses employers of violating workers' rights to decent work, decent wages and salaries and for unfair dismissals.

In the middle of all this, many people who lost their jobs and migrated to neighbouring South Africa have fallen victim to xenophobic attacks, which have resulted in the deaths of at least two Zimbabweans.

The government has since repatriated about 800 victims, although some have said they still want to go back when the dust settles because there are no jobs in Zimbabwe.

Economic analysts put the employment rate at more than 80 percent while the official statistics agency puts it at 11 percent.

Thousands of people have now fallen into debt after either losing their jobs or having their salaries cut, with some losing their homes, household property, office furniture and equipment and even clothes to creditors.

The country has been going through an economic decline since the late 1990s and its economy shrunk by 50 percent between 1997 and 2008.

Growth picked up in 2009, but after a few good years, it lost steam again and a cloud of uncertainty hangs over both employer and employee alike.

During campaigns for the 2013 presidential and parliamentary elections, Mugabe's governing party Zanu-PF promised to create more than 2 million jobs.

The jobs are yet to materialize, but the government says it is work in progress under its economic blueprint the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation. Endi