GOVERNMENT says it will award its workers another pay
increase in June as prices of basic commodities continue to skyrocket, eroding
the purchasing power of disposable incomes.
Chairperson of the Public Service Commission (PSC) Vincent
Hungwe said government was aware of the chaos in the market wrought by the
price hikes which are daily eroding the recent salary increments awarded to
civil servants.
Revealing that a new proposal to further cushion the
workers had been tabled, he said: “Since the 1st of April, there has been some
changes, some challenges within our economy and we are continuing to engage
employees in order to come up with a mid-term adjustment to their salaries
sometime in June and July.”
In April, government offered civil servants a pay rise,
lifting the lowest paid to ZWL$600, which has now been eroded to the equivalent
of almost US$100 as the RTGS dollar continues to take a hit on the black market
where it is now trading at around ZWL$570 per US$100.
Hungwe said the increase was gifted to the workers by
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, without any need to negotiate for it.
“We do engage with our employees from time to time and you
will recall that at the beginning of the year the President granted civil
servants some resources which were not negotiated.
It was the President merely indicating and recognising that
there has been some challenges with respect to the economy and the increases in
prices,” he said.
“Subsequent to that we engaged with our employees for
purposes of coming up with a cost of living adjustment to the tune of $400
million which became operational from April 1.”
Increasingly agitated government employees, especially
teachers have been taking government head-on, demanding better working
conditions and salaries that can meet their daily basic needs.
Hungwe said the PSC was looking at other ways which are not
limited to increasing salaries and allowances for civil servants in order to
cushion workers from the harsh economic meltdown.
“Over and above salaries and allowances for civil servants,
there is always a consistent focus on our part as the employer to ensure that
non-monetary benefits continue to be delivered to our employees,” he said.
“Just watch this space, within the coming two to three
months and see the extent to which we would have gone to see that the
non-monetary benefits become a reality. All this is intended, of course, to
ensure that workers continue to be barricaded against some of the vicissitudes
that one finds in the economy.”
Meanwhile, Mnangagwa appointed commissions for the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces, police and prisons, which will all be chaired by Hungwe.
The commissioners, who were approved a month ago and took
oath of office before Mnangagwa, will begin work to improve the conditions of
service for soldiers, police and prison officers.
Most of the 18 commissioners, who are retired members of
the army and police, are of advanced age. Newsday
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