Govt, workers in crunch pay talks Thursday

Representatives of the government and those of its employees are set to meet on Thursday to discuss salary reviews amid high expectations from workers, whose wages have been eroded by the rampant increases in basic commodities.

Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prof Paul Mavima confirmed the meeting, which workers have said was long overdue.

“It’s the erosion of pay. It was reviewed recently but there is a lot of erosion. We are calling on the National Joint Negotiating Committee to meet tomorrow. There is a government team and an employees’ team, those two teams will negotiate,” he said.

“The meeting itself is about the review of salaries and wages,” he said.

Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions secretary-general David Dzatsunga said workers had high expectations of the meeting.

“The gap between income and prices is far too wide, it’s a miracle how workers are managing. We have always stuck to the demand for US dollar salaries, we believe that the government must strive to get to $540 for the lowest-paid worker. We believe that’s what is sustainable. We believe US dollar salaries would have less haemorrhage in terms of value,” he said.

“More importantly we are looking at the fact that the Zimbabwe dollar component of our salary is no longer something that we can with confidence go into a negotiation and talk about because it loses value
before we leave the room,” he said.

While workers keep demanding payment of US dollar salaries, the Government has maintained that it is unable to do so since it does not generate enough foreign currency.

Prices of basic commodities have shot through the roof in the past months owing to the depreciation of the local currency, which is fueled by speculative behaviour on the foreign exchange market.

As a result, workers’ salaries are eroding fast, making any adjustments meaningless soon after they are made.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday told mourners at the burial of national hero Major General (Rtd) Sikhulile Nyathi that the government was seized with addressing the price madness, and would descend heavily on those behind it. – New Ziana