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Mr Sifiso Ndlovu

Pamela Shumba  Chronicle Reporter
CIVIL servants’ hopes are high as they meet ministers today for the final presentation of proposed salary increase after Wednesday’s meeting ended in a stalemate.Union leaders turned down an average 26 percent raise of between $50 and $100 across grades and urged their employer to make further adjustments and present a final report today.

Civil servants are demanding an increment commensurate with the Poverty Datum Line (PDL) estimated to be $540 by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat).

Richard Gundane, president of the Apex Council — the umbrella body for civil servants’ unions — said hopes were high that the government would present a higher offer.

“We can only discuss the way forward after the meeting but I believe the government will show political will by bringing a better offer. There should be high levels of understanding and demonstration of faithfulness on their part,” said Gundane.

He added: “It would be difficult to move on if the government does not show commitment in Friday’s (today) meeting. We expect to secure a sound agreement and an implementation thereafter. We need to see cohesion as we continue to lobby for better salaries for government workers.”

Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu said today’s meeting should bring relief to the long-suffering public sector workers.

He told Chronicle: “First of all we must come to an agreement over the issue of the PDL. The government should also show its intention of separating promotional grades.

“We don’t anticipate the same offer from government. If they do, they would be demonstrating unwillingness to bring this to an end.”
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary general Raymond Majongwe said they expected the government to bring the negotiations to finality.

“The government will not make the mistake of bringing the same offer to us because they know this is not a joking matter. We need to be treated with respect and it’s important for this issue to be concluded,” Majongwe said.

“If they bring a different offer, which will still be below the PDL, we will take the offer back to the workers and discuss the way forward. The workers will have to decide whether to take the offer or not.”

The government proposed a $79 increase for grades B1 to C5, covering the lowest paid workers such as office orderlies and messengers who earn about $297 per month.

Grades D1 to D5, mainly teachers who account for about 60 percent of the civil service, it was proposed, would get $54, which brings them to $500 from $446.

Grades E1 to E5 made up of deputy directors, directors and their seniors were offered $92 bringing earnings to $623 from about $521.