Daily News ordered to pay $2bn to retrenched workers

Daily News ordered to pay $2bn to retrenched workers

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By Staff Reporter

THE banned Daily News must pay its retrenched staff $5 million each in relocation costs and also pay them six months' pay for every year served, the Public Service Ministry ordered.

Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of the banned Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday could be forced to fork out over $2 billion to pay the 153 workers whose contracts were terminated after the government banned the two crititical papers.

The Ministry's Labour Tribunal also ruled that the paper should pay staff who were under a year of employment two years' wages. The company was also ordered to effect the 960 percent pay rise agreed between the workers and management last Febrruary before management reneged.

The Daily News and it's sister paper were closed by the government under draconian new legislation which required the organisation to register with a commission appointed by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo. The Daily News refused to register and appealed to the Supreme Court but lost their case before getting the green light to publish from the Administrative Court.

The Media and Information Commission appealed against the Administrative Court judgement allowing the Daily News to publish. Currently, the paper is awaiting judgement on its challenge on the constitutionality of Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) under which it was banned.

The matters were consolidated into one case with consent from both parties and heard before the Supreme Court which has reserved judgement.
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