BULAWAYO – Haddon & Sly, one of Bulawayo’s oldest and well-known supermarkets, has closed shop.
The supermarket has been struggling to pay its 60 employees and suppliers. Last Friday, workers were finally told not to report for work.
Harare businessman Deans Chibhanguza, the current owner of the supermarket, says they are closing for renovations and should open later in November, but workers are not convinced.
Chibhanguza said he had secured a $500,000 loan which will be used to renovate the shop and pay workers and suppliers their outstanding dues.
“We’ve competitors around us and we want to ensure that we meet the current trends and technologies in the industry. It is therefore necessary to close for a while. When we reopen, it will be in time for the festive season. Our customers need to see an improved setting and enjoy a good shopping experience when we reopen,” he said.
The workers who have been picketing outside the supermarket since Friday, say they are owed salaries for two months. The workers accuse management of failing to communicate with them.
The workers were already working shifts – two weeks in, two weeks out.
“The company owes us two months’ salaries. It also owes creditors a lot of money and some of them were meant to join us today,” a worker said outside the supermarket on Monday.
The workers said they had been visited by police who urged them to stop their action.
On Sunday, the employees held a late night vigil outside the supermarket and claim that the branch manager went into the shop and tried to leave with some cash that was stored inside.
“We managed to stop him because nothing must leave this shop until we have a clearer position,” said another employee.
Stock has been moved into a warehouse at the back of the shop, said the workers.
A representative of the Commercial Workers Union of Zimbabwe, Patrick Ndlovu, said the management had started to pay outstanding salaries but should have communicated its position earlier to the workers.
“The employees should have been told what the management is planning regarding their fate. It’s unfair to keep employees in limbo but they need to know their status. According to the owners, workers are supposed to be reporting for work as usual and no-one will lose their job but that position has to be communicated to them,” he said.
