adminlack of negotiation knowledge and expertise believing that she “stayed with a bag full of money in my office.”
She was giving oral evidence before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Services chaired by Mazowe South MP, Cde Margaret Zinyemba (Zanu-PF).
The committee wanted the Minister to give them an update of the negotiations regarding the conditions of service and challenges being faced by civil servants.
“The rationale and wisdom by the Inter-Ministerial Committee in reintroducing the rural allowance was that at least 60 percent of the civil service would benefit, but the workers did not want any of that,” she said.
“We were conscious of the fact that 60 percent stood to benefit, that was the rationale when we formulated the idea of the re-introduction of rural allowance.”
She said when Government came up with a US$240 million resource envelope to the negotiating table, it wanted both the Government and worker representatives to break it down taking into consideration critical areas but the workers refused.
“I must emphasise that the Ministry of Finance itself had tried to break it down but our cadres on the ground (members of the Negotiating Joint Council) felt that it was prudent to take the resource envelope to the negotiating table rather than to take a
broken down figure as that would be dictatorial.”
Minister Matibenga said the US$240 million has since been broken down and it will cover conditions of service, transport and housing allowance.
She said rural allowances and de-bunching of salary grades will now be held in abeyance until resources have been found.
The new figures, the minister said, will be brought before the National Joint Negotiating Council meeting today.
Online Reporter