Address civil servants’ salaries issue urgently

servants understand that the Government is faced with a myriad of economic challenges and is struggling to meet people’s expectations.
But they at least expect to be heard. They also expect better remuneration.
The last time Finance Minister Tendai Biti told them Government has no money, he went on to give Members of Parliament $15 000 each in sitting allowances backdated to 2009. We are not saying the legislators should not have been given the money. They are perfectly entitled to their allowances but what is good for the goose should also be good for the gander.
The last straw to break the camel’s back, it would seem, is the arrogance with which Minister of Public Service Lucia Matibenga has so far displayed.
Minister Matibenga failed to turn up for a crucial meeting with the civil servants’ Apex Council aimed at addressing the civil servants’ grievances last week.
While we understand that as a Government minister, she could have been tied up elsewhere, we believe she should have made all efforts to maintain the dialogue with the workers. Her failure to turn up for the meeting and her silence ever since has resulted in the civil servants threatening to go on a wildcat strike countrywide, starting from today.
For surely, how can a minister in charge of such a portfolio and a product of the labour unions display such arrogance?
No one wants civil servants to go on strike and we believe such a move is counter-productive and will have devastating effects on the economy which is still struggling to get back on its feet.
With schools having recently opened without incident, the last thing that parents would want to see is an interruption of classes, more so having paid through the nose for their children’s education.
But the civil servants have been pushed to the limit and they certainly cannot continue to suffer while those who hold the purse in Government play politics with their stomachs.
The last time civil servants got a salary review after the intervention of President Mugabe but the nation cannot expect the Head of State to continue solving Government labour disputes when he appointed a whole Cabinet minister to perform these duties.
Minister Matibenga must not abdicate responsibility. She must perform or resign if she can’t handle the job.
The only logical thing for her to do now is call for dialogue with the civil servants and address their plight. She must stop burying her head in the sand and pretending that all is well.