GOVERNMENT has pledged to extend the foreign currency
non-taxable Covid-19 allowance for civil servants and pensioners to December as
it maintains its position of providing a living wage for its employees.
The offer was made during the National Joint Negotiating
Council (NJNC) meeting yesterday which brings Government and civil servants
representatives under one roof to tackle issues affecting workers.
The Government in June announced a flat non-taxable
Covid-19 allowance of US$75 a month for civil servants and increased their
salaries by 50 percent while pensioners who retired from the civil service also
got a flat non-taxable Covid-19 allowance of US$30.
Government had said the forex allowance was just for three
months meaning it was supposed to end last month.
The forex allowance is part of President Mnangagwa’s
measures to cushion Government workers from the adverse impact of Covid-19.
When it announced the Covid-19 forex non-taxable
allowances, Government stated that civil servants had to open nostro accounts
so that the money is deposited in the accounts and used electronically to guard
against channelling the forex to the black market.
However, last month, Treasury observed that some banks were
colluding with retail shops to deny the civil servants access to their money
hence sabotaging the Government programme.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli
Ncube last month challenged the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to bring the
banking sector to order and address the artificial hurdles depriving employees
from accessing their forex.
RBZ last month ordered banks to ensure that all civil
servants are issued with bank cards to enable them to access their foreign
currency allowances.
Apex Council chairperson Mrs Cecilia Alexander said
negotiations to improve civil servants’ salaries are on-going and Government
has tabled an offer to extend the Covid-19 allowance to December.
Mrs Alexander said Government made it clear that it
understood the plight of its employees and was working to address some of the
challenges they were facing.
“We had a meeting today with Government representatives who
made an undertaking to extend the Covid- 19 forex allowance to December. We
also discussed the issue of salary increase and the negotiations are
ongoing,”she said.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association secretary general Mr Tapson
Sibanda said the Government agreed to pay civil servants foreign currency
allowances until year end. He said Government also promised a 40 percent salary
increase.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister
Professor Paul Mavima said salary negotiations for civil servants were ongoing
and therefore he did not want to pre-empty the negotiations.
“I’m not at liberty at this particular time to discuss
those issues because they are subject to our negotiations in the NJNC meetings.
A full statement will be issued once we conclude the negotiations,” said
Minister Mavima. Chronicle
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