Online Reporter
Mkhululi Ncube, [email protected]
GOVERNMENT has said it is finalising modalities to implement a salary increment for its workers starting next month and will be meeting the negotiators for finer details before the end of this week.
Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Edgar Moyo, said this yesterday in Bulawayo as he assured civil servants that the employer was seriously looking into their welfare issues and that good news was coming.
Public sector workers have gone for two years without a salary increment and despite a stable economy, recent developments in the Middle East, which have pushed fuel prices up, have resulted in kombi operators raising fares, while some shops have also reviewed prices of goods upwards.
In an interview on the sidelines of the National Social Security Authority (Nssa) Engineers’ Workshop on Occupational Safety and Health, Minister Moyo acknowledged the need to review civil servants’ salaries.
“We all expect that something should have happened; there were delayed processes here and there, but I want to assure the nation that we are actively working on that,” he said.
“Within a day or two, there is going to be a National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) meeting where these matters are going to be discussed and hopefully they are going to be concluded.”
Minister Moyo said the Government was being guided by the job evaluation framework, which is now a working document and will inform remuneration of civil servants based on qualifications and grades.
He appealed to the public service workforce to be calm as partners in the NJNC thrashes the final issues.
“The Government is active on the matter and an agreement will be made once the workers have put in their demand and the Government has made their offer,” Minister Moyo added.
“Naturally, workers will demand as much as they want and employers will pay as much as they can afford. The negotiation process is bringing the two parties together to work out something out of the demand and the offer.”
He said civil servants can definitely expect a salary increase in April. However, the minister could not be drawn into talking about the figures involved, saying these will only emerge once the negotiations have been concluded.
Recently, the Minister of Finance and Investment Promotion, Professor Mthuli Ncube, also emphasised that Government is aware of the pressures the civil servants were facing, which necessitate a salary review.
He said the job evaluation exercise, which was conducted by the Public Service Commission, is due for implementation, also necessitating salary movement.
“The review (of salaries) is also linked to the job evaluation exercise that was conducted by the Public Service Commission last year and is now due for implementation.
“We hope this adjustment will go a long way in relieving the pressure from our civil servants. We expect that it will become effective on the first of April,” he said.
Various civil servant bodies have been pushing for a salary increment, saying the current salaries are too low for workers. — @themkhust.
