Council workers demand salary hike

Yeukai Karengezeka Herald Correspondent
Harare City Council workers are demanding a five percent salary increment to cushion them from price increases.

Recent council minutes revealed that the local authority’s four trade unions made a proposal to negotiate the cost of living adjustment for this year.

The minutes stated that last month the trade unions referred the motion to the Employment Council for the Harare Municipal Undertaking for negotiations on the general cost of living in the country, but the council was incapacitated because of budgetary constraints.

Council authorised acting human capital director Mr Matthew Marara to negotiate with the four trade unions on the cost of living adjustment (COLA) in line with the provisions of the constitution for the Employment Council for the Harare Municipal Undertaking as well as the Labour Act.

Mr Marara said council had a pending COLA increment of 2,5 percent for the year 2017 which would be effected from March 2019 and backdated to January 1, 2019.

The 2018 cost of living adjustment and the 2019 hardship allowance were both before the arbitrator following a deadlock on both.

The joint committees resolved that the parties should engage in the negotiation for a salary increment in respect of the 2019 cost of living adjustment subject to the outcome of the pending arbitral award on the negotiations for last year.

The Harare Municipal Workers’ Union accused the local authority of abusing workers’ rights.

“We have appealed to the Minister of Local Government to intervene in this situation and help us to ensure that council employees are paid on time,” said the workers’ union.

The union also urged council to emulate Government in respecting the workers’ rights as well as paying them on time.