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Civil servants’ representatives yesterday described his move as “careless” and ignorant to their plight.
Minister Biti dropped the bombshell last Thursday when he told a special Cabinet meeting that civil servants’ salaries and recruitments will be frozen until the economy improves.
The special session looked at discrepancies between Minister Biti’s 2012 national budget and actual outturns.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive Mr Sifiso Ndlovu yesterday said Minister Biti’s statement was unacceptable.
“We do not want surprises because if he does so we are also going to surprise him. How can he talk of a salary freeze in a country where prices are going up every week?
“He cannot just make such a decision without engaging us, the affected parties. To us, his statements are prejudicial to what President Mugabe is going to say.
“We have written to the President (Mugabe) and as such we will only pay attention to the highest authority in the country,” he said.
The union leaders wrote to President Mugabe last month asking for his intervention and to help improve their salaries and working conditions.
The workers, who are demanding $538 for the least paid employee, last year approached President Mugabe after finding no joy in all other formal ways to have their salaries increased.
The lowest paid Government employee is getting $296.
Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Manuel Nyawo said Minister Biti’s move was disturbing.
“We are disturbed because how can he freeze salaries at a time we are expecting an upward review? If he freezes them, he is declaring war on us because everyone is waiting for the increases come July.
“We are going to wait for President Mugabe because (Minister) Biti is just an administrator of Government finances and should not announce sole decisions without consulting us. The battle lines have been drawn because we have waited patiently for the money as we did not get anything in January except allowances,” he said.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Mr Raymond Majongwe added: “If it is his decision to freeze salaries then he will be in for it next month because he would have made history by becoming the first Finance Minister to deny workers a salary review for the whole year.
“We are pinning our hopes on the President but our message to (Minister) Biti is if he freezes salaries then he should make sure prices of goods remain stagnant,” he said.
A Government source said Minister Biti told the special Cabinet meeting that cumulative revenue from January to May stood at $1,274 billion against a target of $1,469 billion. This created a shortfall of about $194,8 million.
Minister Biti, the source said, indicated that Government operations should be reduced “drastically” while implementation of a number of projects had to be suspended.
The source, however, said Government had spent less than planned.
“Minister Biti said Government expenditure, including the wage bill, amounted to $1,253 billion against the budgeted $1,470 billion for January to May.
“Of this, $955,1 million went to employment costs, $190,7 million (recurrent operation) and $97,4 million was for capital expenditure.
“After all this, he said since employment costs had taken up most of the money, there would be a general freeze on recruitment and Government would maintain wage bill levels which would only be reviewed when the economy improves.
“In all his measures, there is nothing meant to grow the economy. He is killing the supply side of the economy like agriculture and puts emphasis on taxing workers, which is not feasible. It is clear he wants the workers to continue suffering for long as he has no effective solutions.”
The source said Minister Biti suggested that Government should dispose of some of its “silverware assets”.
“The Minister suggested that some assets especially in the telecommunications sector should be disposed of. He said a comprehensive proposal was being developed and he does not even put into consideration that the sector he wants to dispose of is sensitive,” said the source.
Civil servants have been agitating for a salary review commensurate with the poverty datum line. Minister Biti has, however, repeatedly spurned these efforts for the past three years sighting a “shoe-string budget”.
Online Reporter