CIVIL SERVANTS yesterday reacted angrily to government’s pronouncement that the US$75 monthly COVID-19 allowance would now be enjoined to their salaries and accused the Public Service Commission (PSC) of trying to hoodwink them into believing that they had been awarded a salary increment.
The PSC announced yesterday that payment of the US$75
allowance would now be done monthly and indexed to the existing exchange rate.
This effectively means that the lowest paid civil servant
will get $11 350, about US$100, a far cry from the US$520 demanded by the
public servants.
“The PSC is pleased to advise government workers that the
US$75 COVID-19 allowance for September, 2020 is being paid today. Going
forward, the US$75 COVID-19 allowance will be paid on pay days. This
effectively means that the least paid worker (B1) is now earning $11 350
monthly, while a teacher at entry grade (D1) earns a total of $12 591,15. The
US$75 allowance is indexed to the prevailing RBZ foreign exchange rate,” PSC
secretary Jonathan Wutawunashe said in a statement.
He then saluted civil servants for religiously rendering
their services despite the low pay, adding that he hoped negotiations for improved
their salaries between government and their unions would be concluded soon.
Apex Council spokesperson David Dzatsunga said: “It is
their unilateral decision and not negotiation and it reads as if they are just
calculating the US$75 in local currency terms and then add it on to what we
have been getting before.
“The correct thing is to talk about it, but we realise they
are acknowledging that all is not well and they are now firefighting. We expect
what we should have negotiated. The circular seems to be saying you guys are
saying you are getting this, but in actual fact, you are getting $11 000 and,
therefore, we are going to negotiate from that figure which I also find
problematic.”
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) said
nothing had changed and vowed that teachers would continue with their boycott.
“What they have done is to convert our nostro salaries into
local currency and then added the 40% that they gave us. If you add US$75 and
about $4 000, you get to $11 000 to $12 000, so there is nothing that they have
done,” PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou said.
“This is not what we asked for and you don’t give a
catapult to a child who asks for fish. We never asked for such an increase or
whatever, what we want is the restoration of salaries that we were getting in
October 2018.”
He described the move as an “unfair labour practice which
is callous and a monument for Zimbabwean injustice.”
In a statement, the organisation said: “If it is true that
the figure includes nostro, nothing has changed. Our members will not go to
work on the back of deception. Mark our words.
“The insult against our members will have negative
repercussions that will be felt for a long time. There are no negotiations
going on. There has been no change in the salary figure.
The announcement is intended primarily to hoodwink
desperate parents and students.”
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe said the
move by the government was meant to deceive the workers.
“There is nothing new here. Teachers have been earning the
same inadequate income which falls short of both our expectations and the
modest monthly budget for a low income earner. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
pegged the monthly breadbasket at over $20 000. The COVID-19 allowances expire
in December, 2020,” the rural teachers said.
“This is a joke. The government intends to deceive the world
into believing that they adjusted our salaries. To the contrary, they simply
added current teacher incomes to the COVID-19 allowance and announced the total
figure. Teachers have been earning the same inadequate income since July.”
Meanwhile, in Parliament, former Finance minister Tendai
Biti (Harare East MP MDC Alliance) said government should pay teachers the
US$520 salaries they used to get before the re-introduction of the Zimbabwe
dollar.
Government has steadfastly maintained the use of the Zimdollar
at a time rentals, goods and services are charged in hard currency. Newsday
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