Published: 28 April 2014

Combative workers union, The Zimbabwe Allied Bankers and Workers Union (Zibawu) is spiritedly campaigning for the voluntary resignation of Infrastructure Development Bank Zimbabwe (IDBZ) chief executive Charles Chikaura following revelations that the bank intends to retrench close to 50 workers.

Chikaura earns $35 000 monthly, an amount that Zibawu says can pay salaries of the state bank's 44 non-managerial staff.

"The salary-gate issue at IDBZ, wherein the CEO gets paid an excess of $35 000, enough to pay all its 44 non-managerial staff leaving out a healthy difference of about
$3 500 is not healthy.

"This is the same institution where the human resources director allocated herself a whooping unexplained amount of $320 000.

"We are being pressurised from all angles to demand the resignation of such leadership. We also hear that such an institution like IDBZ intends to embark on a retrenchment exercise, but surely how would any sane person retrench 44 people," the union said in a statement.

The union has since urged management at IDBZ to comply with the government directive to cap the CEO's salary at not more than $6 000.

"These self-centred CEOs have a tendency to prescribe a restructuring plan that preserves their turf at the expense of the organisation.

"Due to popular demand we are going to politely ask the IDBZ chief executive to resign within a month, failure of which we are going to take to
the streets to demand his resignation.

"We will petition the relevant powers that be to ensure government institutions, particularly in the financial sector are rid of unpatriotic parasites that are there to exploit the nation at large for their own benefits," said the workers union.

Zibawu assistant secretary general Sheperd Ngandu said that though the union did not have definite figures on the retrenchment, it had it in good authority that 50
employees would soon be retrenched.

"At the moment we do not know the criteria being used to retrench and we do not know who will be affected but we are saying before this is done the management and employees should sit and reach a compromise.

"Whether they are calling it restructuring or retrenchment our concern as the union is that IDBZ should first deal with the CEO salary adjustment before dismissing people, especially considering the bank cannot afford to retrench," Ngandu said.

He added that other issues that would have to be dealt with include performance bonus fees which were being awarded regardless of the financial quagmire the bank is enmeshed in.

The financial sector has been rocked by poor performance and bank closures stemming chiefly from poor corporate governance, non-performing loans and a deteriorating macro-economic environment.

The IDBZ could not immediately respond to the issues raised by Zibawu at the time of going to print.
- Zim Mail

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