Civil servants demand urgent salary meeting

Harare (New Ziana) -The union representing civil servants on Thursday wrote to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, requesting an urgent meeting to review public sector salaries.

In the letter, the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Union said it was disappointed by the ‘unreasonable’ delays by government to convene a salary review meeting.

“ZCPSTU writes to express our utmost disappointment at the unreasonable delay to convene NJNC (National Joint Negotiating Council) in spite of the dire necessity for it in the light of the huge deficit between prices and wages which has left workers subsisting on the USD250 allowance,” the union said.

“We write to request that the employer urgently convene an NJNC to address the cost-of-living crisis.”

It said recent media reports of government officials promising salary negotiations had raised workers’ hopes, yet on the ground, no meeting was taking place.

“This has created a legitimate expectation amongst the workers that a solution is near, making our work as unions a lot harder to explain the delay and why the employer would be comfortable with a situation where their workers have no salary to speak of, only an allowance.

“Our legitimate request is that we want an NJNC now. We have taken the resolve to visit your office as a delegation of ZCPSTU this Friday 30 June at 1000hrs to help us appreciate the employer’s position regarding the situation of workers. We look forward to be hosted by you,” the union said.

Government workers currently earn US$250 in allowances, while their salary is in the fast-depreciating Zimbabwe dollars.

They have been pushing for a salary of at least $840 per month for the lowest paid worker.

New Ziana