Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, battling to avert a
full-blown strike by civil servants, has indicated that it would soon engage
their leadership to find ways to cushion them from the choking wave of price
increases emanating from the distortions between the United States dollar and
the local surrogate bond currency.
CiviI servants, estimated at 500 000, are demanding an
increase in salaries after prices rose five-fold and inflation shot up from
3,52% in January this year to 5,39% in September and 20,85% in October.
Public Service Commission (PSC) secretary Jonathan
Wutawunashe yesterday said government would soon convene the meeting to deal
with issues affecting civil servants.
Of particular concern to government, he said, has been the
price distortions on the market that have virtually impoverished citizens
earning their salaries in bond notes and through real time gross settlement
(RTGS).
Many goods and services have been priced in US dollar
terms, a development that has consequently meant that ordinary citizens have to
fork out between three and four times the price in bond notes, which is beyond
the reach of the majority.
Wutawunashe said in a statement that a National Joint
Negotiating Council (NJNC) meeting held on Thursday this week resolved that
there should be a special indaba with workers’ representatives.
“Aware of the challenges that workers are facing as a
result of a number of price distortions arising from and bordering on criminal
activities, government has set in motion a process to convene a special meeting
with the workers representatives,” he said.
“This platform will formalise ongoing arrangements to
engage the workers in order to address the issues that they have raised in an
integrated and comprehensive manner.”
Wutawunashe said government recognised the critical matters
that civil servants wanted thrashed out and was committed to ongoing
discussions with its employees.
“The workers presented a set of matters for discussion and
government recognises these and commits itself to consultations on an ongoing
basis to address them,” he said.
He said government would soon extend an invitation to the
workers representatives to attend the “special meeting as a matter of urgency”.
The developments comes after negotiations between civil
servants and government ended prematurely on Thursday with representatives of
the workers storming out of talks in protest after being told that there would
be no new offer on the table.
It is, however, not clear as yet if the government would
present a new offer at the forthcoming meeting.
The government is already dealing with a strike by doctors
that has paralysed operations at public hospitals while rural teachers are
planning a protest march from Sunday, from Mutare to Harare to demand better
pay and working conditions. Newsday
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