Govt, civil servants in crunch meeting over salary

ZwNews.com

The Zimbabwean government had a meeting with civil servants representatives yesterday to resume salary negotiations, amid dismay by the workers regarding unfulfilled promises.

This comes after the government promised a ZW$97 increment during their last engagement, an offer the workers were not comfortable with, demanding at least RTGS$4 600 for the least paid worker.

That being the case, workers were expecting to see a reflection of the promise, while they pursue further upward reviews.

As the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) was expected to convene a meeting in Harare yesterday regarding the matter, the workers who have just received their July pay are not happy to notice that the promised pay rise has not been factored in. The workers particularly teachers has given their employer an ultimatum to pay up until Friday 19 July 2019.

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) says it disheartening that the government has chose not to honour the promise.

“Teachers have received their July payslips, no increment, no cushion, same paltry salary. We are giving the government up to Friday 19 July 2019, to pay us a living wage, or face real action if our ultimatum is ignored,” says ARTUZ.

The union bemoaned the lack of diginity one of the world’s oldest profession has been subjected, owing to sheer neglect by the government, and went as far as posting a copy of the latest teachers payslip on its twitter handle. The slip shows a net pay of ZW$439.

Meanwhile, the teachers associations in Zimbabwe has failed to send a single voice amid allegations of infiltration by state agents. Zimbabwe has several teachers associations namely Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA), and ARTUZ, and more than often, all these have failed to speak with one voice.

Meanwhile, ZIMTA has urged sister associations to desist from making statements until and stop undermining the current negotiations until