After telling public workers early last month that bonuses
would be performance-based, government yesterday said it would pay all
employees 50% of their bonuses this month, while the balance would be paid next
month.
Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Unions president
Cecilia Alexander said after a meeting of the National Joint Negotiating
Committee (NJNC), it was agreed that all civil servants from the deputy
director level and below would receive
their bonuses unconditionally.
“The workers’ side representatives met the government on
the 7th of November 2022 to deliberate on quite a number of issues, chief among
them is the payment modalities of 2022 annual bonuses,” Alexander said.
“The meeting agreed that all civil servants from deputy
director grade and below will receive their bonuses unconditionally. The
bonuses will be accorded in two tranches starting from November to December
across the board. Fifty percent of the annual bonus will be paid per the said
months plus the usual earnings.”
Alexander said fees for teachers’ children would also be
paid in batches for all terms in December through the Salary Service Bureau.
“On performance advancement, all members will be rightfully
placed in their grades in January 2023, while the arrears will be worked upon
thereafter.”
Workers’ representatives commended government for its
decision to pay bonuses unconditionally.
“We applaud government’s first step to treat all workers
unconditionally. However, we continue
imploring the employer to do likewise on salary earnings. We are not happy with
the current salary discrepancies that have seen teachers earning less than the
rest of the civil servants when we are working for the same employer,”
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe president
Obert Masaraure said: “Government should always honour payment of the 13th
cheque and it should come unconditionally. The employer should expedite the
alignment of labour laws to the Constitution. Statutory Instrument 141 of 1997
which establishes the NJNC is ultra vires (contradicts) the Constitution and it
follows that the NJNC must be disbanded. A genuine collective bargaining framework
should be established for the bipartite engagement between government and its
workers.” Newsday
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