"Zimbabwe: Chinese Firm, ZCTU Clash Over Workers' 'Slave' Abuses"

Ceramic tiles manufacturing company, Sunny Yi Feng has clashed with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) over claims of workers' rights abuses which involve imposing "slave" punishments for violating work protocols. Sunny Yi Feng operates from Norton.

ZCTU president, Peter Mutasa told NewZimbabwe.com Wednesday they visited the company early this month, and documented, from the workers, horrible accounts of labour abuses. "The company is using some chemicals in the manufacture of ceramic tiles and in the process female workers end up collapsing. The company uses a system where it uses forklifts to carry workers who would have collapsed out of the factory," he said.

...However, contacted for comment by NewZimbabwe.com, Sunny Yi Feng dismissed the allegations and accused the ZCTU of damaging the company's reputation. "The publications carry single stories from uninformed sources who, rather than being constructive, are more destructive to the image of the company. From the onset, the reports have been influenced by actions of conspiracy as a result of revenge distortion," the company's public relations officer, Alex Mukumba said.