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Lovemore Meya Herald Correspondent
Chitungwiza Municipality workers have clashed with their unions, accusing them of robbing them by collecting membership fees from council without their knowledge.

The affected unions are Zimbabwe Urban Councils Workers Union (ZUCWU), Zimbabwe Rural and Urban Council Workers’ Union (ZRUCWU) and Water and Allied Workers’ Union (WAWU). The unions also allegedly agreed with council management to halve the worker’s salaries without consulting them.

The workers said they did not know the union’s leadership and they last conducted meaningful meetings with them in 2013, during the days of one Matsikidze and Reverend Ephraim Katsina as leaders.

“We were shocked when we started seeing half salaries being deposited into our accounts and on enquiring we were told that was what we agreed with our union leaders,” said the employees. “We do not recognise the existence of any union since we last had genuine leadership in 2013. “We do not have any representation.” ZRUWCU chairman, Mr William Makoto, said they never met with management or the caretaker commission on the issue of salaries.

“We never agreed with management on the issue of salaries and we did not have a hand in it,” he said. “It was done through the commission and we never met them to agree on the issue. However, since there are three unions, maybe the workers you spoke to belong to the other two.

ZUWUC vice chairman Mr Nyika Nyika also professed ignorance on the agreement on salaries.