Zimpapers Logo

CIVIL servants last week ignored their union leaders’ call for a two-day strike, a confirmation that they want to engage their employer as opposed to being confrontational. Government said it is meeting with the union leaders today ahead of a Tripartite Negotiating Forum meeting on Thursday. 

Strike – Image taken from Shutterstock

Last week’s action by civil servants is a clear message to their union leaders that they should continue engaging the Government as opposed to inciting workers to strike. Government last month effected a 100 percent salary increase but said salary negotiations remain open. 

The civil servants’ spirit of wanting to engage Government should be embraced by the union leaders. It should however, be appreciated that for any negotiations to succeed, the parties involved must be prepared to move from their initial positions.

 We want to urge both Government and the civil servants to find each other taking into account the prevailing economic challenges facing both the public and private sectors. 

Government continues to sacrifice in order to improve the salaries of civil servants despite its limited resources. 

The workers have said the 100 percent salary increase is not enough given the level of salaries they are earning against the prices of basic commodities which continue to increase. 

We have said it before that employers can only pay salaries they can afford and Government is no exception. It is a fact that salaries of civil servants have been eroded by the ever increasing prices of basic commodities as businesses continue to chase the black market rates. 

Government has warned that it might be forced to act on businesses that continue to peg prices based on the black market rates but it seems the threats have not been deterrent enough. 

Some businesses are now demanding forex only for some selected products such as cooking oil and sugar and Government has said this is illegal but no action is being taken to punish the defiant businesses.

Cooking Oil

Government has said it remains sensitive to the plight of civil servants which means it will continue to review their salaries as the economy improves but it has to urgently address the issue of escalating prices of basic commodities. 

The prices of fuel have been revised downwards but from past experience, we know businesses will not reduce the prices of their commodities. 

Government is also offering non-monetary incentives such as housing stands as part of measures to improve the welfare of its workers. We want to once again urge the civil servants to continue engaging the Government as opposed to going on strike because downing tools is detrimental to the growth of the economy. 

Government has said it should not be work as usual but individuals should put extra effort every day to improve output.