Zimbabwe: Retrenchment By Design – How ‘Restructuring’ Can Be Used to Weaken Unions in Zimbabwe

When Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court handed down Nyamande & Another v Zuva Petroleum (SC 43/15) in July 2015, it reaffirmed an employer’s common-law right to terminate employment on notice, and the aftermath was immediate and bruising for workers.

Within weeks, Zimbabwe’s main labour federation said tens of thousands of jobs had been lost after companies moved quickly to terminate contracts on notice, before lawmakers intervened to amend the Labour Act.

The legal position has shifted since then, but the…