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

This Collective Bargaining Agreement amends the Food and Allied Industries (Baking Sub-sector) agreement published in S.I. 22 of 2013. It was made between the National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe and the Baking Workers Union, an affiliate of the United Food and Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe, and registered under section 79 of the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01].

The parties met on 27 January 2023 and agreed that wages are indexed in US dollars but payable in Zimbabwe dollars at the RBZ auction rate prevailing on the 21st of each month. For January to June 2023 the monthly minimums run from US$300,00 at grade 1 to US$398,38 at grade 9 — up from US$270,00 to US$358,55 for the July to December 2022 period. The schedule also gives the ZWL equivalents at the December 2022 rate of 671,4467 and the January 2023 rate of 732,0036, putting grade 1 at ZWL219 601,08 for January 2023 and grade 9 at ZWL291 615,59.

Long service is rewarded with a percentage increase on the actual basic salary: 2 per cent for 5 to 9 years, 3 per cent for 10 to 14 years, 4 per cent for 15 to 19 years, 5 per cent for 20 to 25 years and 6 per cent for 25 years and above.

Allowances, effective from November 2022, are a transport allowance of US$35 a month for employees living more than one kilometre from the workplace who are not housed on the employer's premises or given transport, and a housing allowance of US$30 a month for employees not provided with accommodation, pegged at US$30 for January to June 2023 and paid in ZWL at the 21st-of-the-month auction rate.

Subsistence allowances for 1 January to 30 June 2023 are a food allowance of US$12 a day and an accommodation allowance of US$20 a night, both payable in ZWL at the prevailing auction rate. A night shift allowance of US$1 was set for 1 to 31 January 2023. Employers may choose to pay any of these amounts in actual United States dollars.

The agreement was signed at Harare on 27 January 2023 but only gazetted on 15 March 2024. The wage period it covers had ended, and the RBZ auction rate mechanism it relies on preceded the introduction of ZiG, so it matters chiefly for back pay and for the continuing service and allowance rules.