GOVERNMENT and civil servants’ representatives are
scheduled to meet this week to negotiate fresh salary adjustments and improved
working conditions, amid eroding disposable income.
The new figures were scheduled to have been sealed in
April, but the requisite meetings could not be held due to Covid-19 challenges.
Separately, Government is studying a set of proposals to
cushion private-sector workers agreed to by the Tripartite Negotiating Forum
(TNF) at a recent meeting.
The National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) comprising
Government and public service representatives under the banner of the Apex
Council last met in January.
They had agreed on a pay review and a further assessment in
April. The easing of lockdown restrictions last month opened a window for
negotiations to resume.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister
Professor Paul Mavima said Government was committed to comprehensively review
its workers’ incomes.
“We have the NJNC that should be sitting very soon over
workers’ welfare. That process should be starting . . . maybe as soon as next week (this
week),” said Prof Mavima.
“As Government we appreciate the need to cushion our
workers against the tough economic environment. The NJNC should be meeting as
the negotiating forum between Government and its employees.
“They last met in January when a minimum salary was agreed
on, but we feel that there has been an erosion because of inflation. The issue
of this erosion of incomes is well-appreciated by Government.”
High inflation and the devalued local unit have wreaked
havoc for most workers whose incomes have lost significant value.
Prices of basic goods and services have continued to
skyrocket, while certain goods are now priced exclusively in US dollars by some
retailers, amid stagnation of incomes and volatile parallel market exchange
rates.
The lowest paid Government worker earns about $3 000 before
deductions.
The monthly low-income urban family budget for a family of
six rose to $8 725 last month, up from $4 378 in January, according to
calculations by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ).
Prof Mavima said Government would, however, not commit to
paying its workers in foreign currencies as widely expected by the civil
service.
“Our position is that we cannot remunerate our workers in
US dollars. As Government we cannot run around looking for US dollars when we
have just introduced a new currency.”
In a letter requesting the immediate convening of the NJNC
to the forum’s chair and Government chief negotiator last week, Apex Council
vice secretary Mr Gibson Mushangu said the meeting should address the
“challenges which are drastically bedevilling the civil servants”.
“We last had an NJNC meeting and agreement in January with
the view that regular meetings to address changes in the economy would be made
but hitherto, nothing has materialised,” wrote Mr Mushangu.
“It is to this end that this council requests you to
convene the meeting with urgency so as to address the challenges which are
drastically bedevilling the civil servants.”
Apex Council chairperson Ms Cecilia Alexander said most
workers were hard-pressed to make ends meet.
“Workers are under pressure because incomes have been
eroded by inflation and the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
“The workers are now in a very bad situation. When we go
for negotiations we will press for salaries in US dollars. While we appreciate
that it is good to have a local currency, the problem is that it is not storing
value.”
The TNF, which brings together Government, business and
labour, met on May 28 and committed to pushing through three distinct
programmes to cushion hard-pressed workers and businesses.
It was resolved that employers should commit to frequent
salary adjustments while Government explores the possibility of establishing an
unemployment benefit scheme and expedite currency reforms.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) secretary-general,
Japhet Moyo, told The Sunday Mail most employers were failing to make salary
adjustments according to inflation trends.
“We had this discussion about workers welfare at our
Tripartite Negotiating Forum and there are various proposals that we put on the
table,” said Mr Moyo.
“The first one was to continuously review the incomes so
that they follow inflationary trends. The second one was to see whether
authorities can be able to establish an unemployment benefit scheme, because a
number of able-bodied people are now unemployed and they need to be assisted.
“We then tasked NSSA (National Social Security Authority)
with crafting an unemployment benefit scheme to assist those who have lost
jobs. And thirdly we needed to look at our currency reforms. Our view is that
if that cannot be done as a short term measure we need to then ensure that
incomes are regularly reviewed to follow the trend.”
Mr Moyo said it was unfortunate that collective bargaining
in some sectors was unable to follow that. He said the proposals had since been
transmitted to Cabinet through the Ministry of Labour.
Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe president Dr Israel
Murefu said many businesses were either in intensive care or functionally dead
and thus unable to review salaries.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic and the attendant lockdown
had severely disrupted operations, markets and production value chains.
“Businesses are not only grappling with survival but
escalating costs which threaten business viability,” said Dr Murefu.
“Therefore, given such a scenario, the first rule of thumb
is to find ways of recovering and bringing back to life many businesses.
Survival is the priority so that jobs or employment can be saved or restored to
pre-lockdown levels if possible.”
Employees needed to exercise restraint when demanding
salary reviews as employers had not been spared the economic challenges, he
said.
“Against such a background, employers are calling for
restraint in terms of demands for salary increases which clearly may be
justifiable because of the falling Zimbabwe dollar and rising inflation.
“The currency devaluation and consequent inflation are not
sparing the employer. This means employers and employees have to meet each
other halfway so that there is a win-win outcome.”
“It must also be realised that many employees are still
sitting at home because either there is no sufficient work or are not
capacitated to work from home, or if they are factory production workers they
can’t work from home but are probably being paid.
“Under these circumstances, we as EMCOZ would call for
restraint in terms of wage and salary demands until the environment improves
and a semblance of normalcy is restored in business. It must also not be
forgotten that the economy was already in distress prior to Covid-19 and,
therefore, that distress has actually worsened.”
According to the CCZ, a family of six now requires $5 551
for groceries a month while a further $2 666 is required for basic requirements
such as housing, transport, health and clothing.
“The cost of living as measured by the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe low-income urban earner monthly basket for a family of six increased
from the end-April figure of $7 171 22 to $8 725 50 by end of May 2020, showing
an increase of $1 554 28 or 21,67 percent,” said CCZ in its monthly report for
May.
“The food basket increased by $1 435 35 or 34,87 percent
from $4 116 55 by end-April 2020 to $5 551 90 by end-May 2020. The price of
detergents increased by $118,93 or 30,64 percent from $388,17 to $507,10.”
The price of mealie-meal increased by $362,08 from $123,91
to $485,99 while brown sugar now costs $83,90 up from $66,19.
But in the past fortnight the prices for basic goods and
services have risen further.
“As CCZ we assume that the increase in the total figure of
the basket can be attributed to the influence of the parallel market on
exchange rates, limited supply of some basic products and panic buying by
consumers because of the lockdown.
“Mandatory restrictions like the lockdown require citizens
to stay at home in order to avoid the spread of the coronavirus but on the
other hand, these measures have triggered panic buying, leading to an increase
in the price of most basic products,” said CCZ. Sunday Mail
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