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THE Government will not implement policies that work against the economic performance of the country, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Mr Tongai Muzenda has said.He said this while responding to a question from the floor during the 2014 Labour briefing on whether Government would next year increase civil servants’ salaries to $540 in line with the Poverty Datum Line (PDL).
Presently, the lowest paid worker in the public service earns $297 a month.
The briefing, which was held at a hotel in Bulawayo on Friday was organised by the Institute of People Management of Zimbabwe.
“I am not in the Politburo but it is true that most of our seniors in the party (Zanu-PF) are calling for a minimum of $540 in the public service. As Government, we have not agreed on that figure. As far as these salary negotiations are concerned, it is my view and my
Minister’s position (Nicholas Goche) that we are not going to implement policies that are detrimental to the economy,” he said.
“We are going to slow down the politicians.”
Participants at the briefing expressed concern that if the civil servants salaries were pegged to $540 for the lowest paid worker that was likely to have negative repercussions on the private sector.
It was highlighted during the briefing that if civil servant salaries were increased to a minimum of $540, labour unions in the private sector were likely to demand a wage increment not below the PDL.
A labour consultant, Mr Ndumiso Sibanda, said a $540 minimum salary would have far reaching effects not only on collective bargaining but the future of the country at large.
“Unions in the private sector fear the fall out with workers if they agree to minimum wage increment below civil servants minimum rates. The impact of unions on bargaining going forward is that they are likely to push for a stake in businesses or convert debt owed to workers into equity.
“I am not saying we should not pay the PDL. If we have the money; let us pay but if we don’t have the money let us pay what we can afford,” said Mr Sibanda.
Meanwhile, in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Muzenda, Minister Goche said the briefing came at a time when Government was taking stock of the challenges and progress made during the year.
He said between January to September this year 1 560 employees across different economic sectors of the economy had been retrenched compared to 1 632 during the same period last year.
Minister Goche said the economy did not perform to expectations as witnessed by the downward review of forecasted economic growth to 3,4 percent while industrial capacity utilisation dropped to about 39,2 percent.
“Because of these hardships, business has been trying to align itself by rightsizing its workforce, as such retrenchments persisted. The manufacturing sector is the worst affected as the country continue to rely on imported materials thereby affecting viability of local manufacturers. Despite all these problems faced by employers, workers have expectations. They expect their salaries to be reviewed and paid above the PDL of which the labour market cannot afford,” he said.
He said as a result of operational challenges facing employers, workers have gone for several months without salaries while others have resorted to collective job actions leading to subsequent dismissal.
“As we proceed to 2014 and beyond, dear colleagues, we need to find solutions to these problems and bring stability to our workplaces.”
Minister Goche challenged employers to keep a healthy workforce saying human resource was equally important as other factors of production.
“We cannot afford to treat HI/AIDS as a social problem but a workplace issue as well. It’s commendable that most sectors now have HIV/AIDS policies. This year the tobacco sector has managed to launch its policy and I encourage the remaining sectors to follow suit,” he said.
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