In a major escalation of their pay dispute with the Government, tens of thousands of Public Servants have given notice that they will work only two days a week.
This follows their union’s rejection of a staggered 70 per cent pay increase offered by the Government.
Salaries would go up by 25 per cent this month, and a further 45 per cent in July, according to the proposal.
In a rare show of unity, the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU), formerly the Apex Council, has declared a deadlock and warned that all its 12 affiliated unions — including health workers and teachers — would now work on just Mondays and Tuesdays.
Teachers are already working three-days-a-week — Monday to Wednesday — since the re-opening of schools following the Easter holidays.
President of the ZCPSTU, Cecelia Alexander wrote to the Public Service Commission saying that as the Government’s offer “proved to be incapable of addressing Civil Servants’ needs…all Civil Servants will report for duty twice a week”.
Minister for Public Service, Paul Mavhima (pictured) said the Government’s technical negotiating teams would now meet “to see if there are variations and also if there are adjustments to be made” in the offer to the ZCPSTU.
“We still have another round of negotiations. We want the Civil Servants to give the technical team a chance and also the negotiations a chance before they start talking about declaring incapacitation,” Professor Mavhima said.
“They need to give room for the technical team to do its work and also give negotiations a chance,” he said.
Professor Mavhima said the Government had proposed three pay reviews this year — one in April, a second in July and the other one later in the year.
The ZCPSTU has rejected this and is accusing the Minister of going back on a promise he made last year that starting in January Public Service salaries would be restored to 2018 levels when the lowest paid public sector worker earned the equivalent of US$540 ($A700) a month.
Harare, 15 April 2021
