Govt Offers Civil Servants $97 Salary Increment
Some civil servants on Tuesday reportedly started receiving a cushioning allowance which ranged around 40 per cent of their usual salaries.
Members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) have already received their adjusted salaries, with other members of the civil service expected to get theirs on their scheduled pay dates.
The National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) held a meeting on Tuesday, the main issue on the agenda was the conditions of service for civil servants.
The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Dr Sekai Nzenza, said that an agreement on a salary increment for civil servants should be reached by Wednesday (today).
Apex Council president Mrs Cecilia Alexander told The Herald that no agreement was reached in Tuesday’s meeting. She added that as the body that represents civil servants, they were not happy with what the government offered them. She said:
From our calculations, what they were offering, one would get an average of about $97 which we feel fell far short of what we expected given the cost of living. As a result, we rejected the offer that came from our employer.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) president, Mr Richard Gundani said that no agreement was reached during the NJNC meeting;
We have not yet reached an agreement. What is important is to mention that, as Apex council, we are dealing with an agitated constituency whose salaries have long been eroded.
This is why we have indicated that our members are incapacitated to come to work. That was real and it has come to a situation where our teachers are failing to come to work.
This is what we presented in today’s NJNC meeting. We have agreed to reconvene but we emphasised the need to address this issue as a matter of urgency.