adminCivil servants were therefore surprised when Government did not increase the salaries last month.
When Minister Biti announced the inflation-related salary increment, the civil servants representatives rejected it accusing him of imposing a salary increment as opposed to engaging them in collective bargaining.
The civil servants said Minister Biti was supposed to respect the negotiating framework put in place by Government, which included consulting them before salaries were adjusted.
The civil servants and Government have in fact formed the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) made up of Government representatives and civil servants’ union representatives through their Apex Council which is supposed to, among other things, negotiate salaries for civil servants.
Minister Biti has probably decided to suspend effecting the inflation-related salary increment following concerns raised by the civil servants representatives who said they would not accept an imposed salary increment.
The unfortunate development however is that Government has not explained its position regarding the issue.
Public Service Minister Lucia Matibenga last month promised to make an announcement on the issue but nothing has materialised.
Minister Matibenga who met the civil servants representatives said she was consulting with Minister Biti and the Public Service Commission first before making the announcement.
The Apex Council which is supposed to engage Government is not helping the situation by failing to come up with a list of negotiators.
The Public Service Association is failing to agree with the rest of the civil servants unions on the list of negotiators and Government is insisting that it will not engage the civil servants until they resolve their differences.
The Apex Council led by Mr David Dzatsunga last week appointed nine negotiators from different civil servants unions but the PSA led by Mrs Cecilia Alexander refused to recognise the representatives saying it was not involved in the selection process.
It is time the unions resolved their differences and engage Government.
We want to believe that Government is sincere when it says it is ready to engage the civil servants once they resolve their differences.
The present situation is not helpful at all as workers remain anxious regarding the issue of the salary increment.
The morale of civil servants remains very low because of this outstanding salary issue which must be resolved as soon as possible.
Workers will obviously appreciate the employer’s challenges if they have the information on the obtaining situation.
We do not understand why unions are failing to agree given the fact that the union leaders have the same objective of representing the civil servants. It should be the interests of civil servants which should always come first and not personal egos.
The unions, should without delay, resolve their differences and engage the Government so that civil servants know the Government position regarding the promised salary increment.
Online Reporter