Collective Bargaining Agreement Food and Allied Industries (Brewing and Distilling Sub-sector)

This registered collective bargaining agreement amends the Food and Allied Industries (Brewing and Distilling Sub-sector) agreement published in S.I. 26 of 2012. The Brewing and Distilling Employers Association and the Brewing and Distilling Workers Union met on 16 February 2023 and agreed increases for the period January to March 2023.

The minimum wage rises 31%, from ZWL$180 000,00 to ZWL$235 000,00 a month. Three allowances rise 28% each: housing from ZWL$35 000,00 to ZWL$44 800,00, transport from ZWL$32 000,00 to ZWL$40 960,00, and subsistence from ZWL$22 000,00 to ZWL$28 160,00. A 5% grade differential is applied on the basic wage, so higher grades step up from the minimum in 5% increments.

On currency, the parties agreed that gross earnings be paid 50% in RTGS and 50% in foreign currency, with the foreign currency component converted at the RBZ auction rate as at the 18th of every month.

Two carve-outs apply. Increases on actual wages, as opposed to the minimum, are left to individual companies to deal with. And where a company provides physical housing and transport, the housing and transport allowances do not apply.

The timing is the awkward part. The agreement was signed at Harare on 17 February 2023 and covers January to March 2023, but was only gazetted on 15 March 2024 — over a year after the period it governs, and after the ZWL was replaced by the ZiG in April 2024. It is effectively a record of a settled back-pay position rather than a live wage schedule, and no commencement date is stated in the text.