Harare (New Ziana) – As a last resort, civil Servants said on Thursday they had resolved to approach President Emmerson Mnangagwa over their longstanding demands for a pay increase, after what they called lengthy, fruitless talks with their representative ministry.
Through their union, the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, civil servants said they had hit a brick wall in long running negotiations with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare over a pay increase.
“We have written several letters to the Minister which is the reason why we have said maybe he is not towing the President’s line of having a listening ear, because he has not responded. This therefore is the reason why we have decided to go straight to the President,” union vice president, Goodwill Taderera said.
“We feel that as workers we have been left behind, so we will make sure that we write to the President formally to seek his audience so that we can convey our grievances,” he added.
Citing alleged failure by the ministry to convene a meeting to review civil servant salaries for the first quarter of the year, the union said its patience had run out, hence the decision to seek presidential intervention in the matter.
It claimed the ministry and the union are mandated to meet at the beginning of each quarter to agree on salaries for the period.
“We must meet before each and every quarter (of the year). We have a legitimate expectation to get an enhanced salary in January and before that we had already written letters expecting that we would have meetings. We demand that we meet as a matter of urgency,” Taderera said.
In the past, civil servants were demanding a salary of around US$500 per month for their lowest paid members, a demand government has consistently said it could not afford.
Instead, the government is paying all civil servants an allowance of US$200 per month, in addition to their salaries pegged in the local currency depending on grade.
Taderera said the union also wanted government to resolve long running management troubles at the Public Service Medical Aid Society, its members’ health funder.
Persistent problems at the medical aid fund, some of it involving corruption, has left civil servants without health insurance for long periods.
“We demand that the government ensures that the matter is resolved. Our teachers even due to inadequate salaries are dying due to stress and depression and they cannot even be treated even for diseases that can be cured. They are not getting attended to because they cannot afford healthcare elsewhere,” Taderera said.
New Ziana
