{ Workers of Shagasha Tea Company located in Giheke sector of Rusizi district have expressed frustrations over the sacking of employees accusing them of demanding payments for extra time work. }
The eight out of 21 workers whose extra time payment request was answered with sacking have now been out of work for more than six months.
“Contracts signed in 2013 indicated that we have to work from 7:00 am to 16:00 pm. The situation was changed later where we worked extra time.They promised us extra working time payments but received nothing. When we complained, they started sacking us,” said Ntawiniga Philemon.
Ntawiniga accuses the company of failing to pay Rwf 2 million arrears accumulated in two years.
“ I signed a contract of working 45 hours a week but I worked 11 extra hours since I would sometimes start work from 5:00 am till the end of the day,” Nderabakura Justin.
Mukamukarage Consolee, a widow of an employee of Shagasha Tea Company who died inside the factory says the death of her husband may have resulted from fatigue yet the company refused to produce documents indicating the cause of her husband’s death.
“My husband would return home early in the morning. He once experienced stress and fell down as he arrived at the gates of the tea factory. He fell in comatose and died around 9:30 am. Since then they’ve never showed me the autopsy documents,” she said.
The Human Resource manager of Shagasha Tea Company, Rushayigi Innocent declined to give comments saying more explanations should be obtained from district officials in charge of labor.
“You should ask the matter in the local administration since these employees filed cases. We pay extra time work,” he said.
The Rusizi officer in charge of labor, Murekeyisoni Prisca explained that they brought together stakeholders but the tea factory managers said that the extra time hours are not recorded anywhere which prompted the district to advise employees to file their case to courts.
“We have sent them to courts,” she said.
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