Collective Bargaining Agreement Salaries and Wages Tobacco (Manufacturing) Sector

The National Employment Council for the Tobacco Industry has registered a wage agreement for the cigarette and tobacco manufacturing industry, amending the 2013 principal agreement. It is deemed to have come into effect on 1 January 2025 and runs to 31 December 2025.

Grade minimums rise 7.5% across the board. The lowest grade and step moves from US$433.14 to US$465.63 a month, and the highest in the table, grade 10 step 2, from US$557.20 to US$598.99. Every grade in between moves by the same percentage.

The currency terms are as important as the increase. The basic wage is all-inclusive and denominated in US dollars, and at least seventy-five per cent of it must be paid in US dollars with effect from 1 January 2025. The remainder is converted to ZWG using the Willing Buyer Willing Seller rate obtaining either on the date of payment or on the 15th of the month — or the nearest working day to it — whichever is higher, a formula that protects the employee against a rate that has moved against them mid-month. The Council must publish schedules of the minimum applicable rates in local currency every month.

The same seventy-five per cent rule applies to money owed to the Council itself: employers must pay at least 75% of Council levies and trade union dues in US dollars.

A night shift allowance is calculated at 15% of the daily rate, for the period actually worked on night shift. The Council encourages employers and employees to improve on these conditions at works council level, and the parties have agreed to reconvene and review the agreement if there are fundamental changes in the economic environment. The agreement was signed at Harare on 31 January 2025 and gazetted on 4 April 2025.