Indexing of the Zimbabwe dollar portion of the salaries to
the prevailing exchange rate will ensure that their buying power is insulated
against movements of the exchange rate.
In addition, the US dollar increment is expected to restore
the value of Government workers’ pay following January’s conversion of Covid-19
allowances into taxable salaries.
In recent months, civil servants’ pay had been eroded by
inflation, and the latest adjustment is expected to sustainably restore their
purchasing power.
Some civil servants started receiving the new pay, whose
flat US dollar component is now pegged at US$320, up from US$300, on Friday.
The latest salary adjustment was the result of a
provisional agreement struck between the Government and representatives of
public sector workers under the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) held
on Thursday.
The NJNC is expected to meet again in April to chart the
way forward.
Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare
Permanent Secretary Mr Simon Masanga on Friday confirmed the salary adjustment,
saying a formal notice will be issued this week.
I have been advised by the Government’s chief negotiator in
the wage negotiations, Mr Nobert Machinjike, that they have made great progress
with the employees, and I understand the payments have started,” he said.
“I am not yet well-updated with the contents of the
document, but we will give a comprehensive position once we have all the
details.”
Speaking to our Harare Bureau yesterday, Mr Machinjike
said: “Yes, we had a meeting and we agreed on something, but I am not in a
position to share the contents of the outcomes from the meeting . . ”
In a separate interview, Zimbabwe Confederation of Public
Sector Trade Unions president Mrs Cecilia Alexander commended the Government
for making the adjustments.
“We had a fruitful meeting with the employer. Indexation of
the local currency component to the prevailing exchange rate is a testimony
that the Government is now committed to keeping the value of the worker’s
salary.
“On top of that, a raise to US$320 is a positive move
towards what we want,” she said.
“However, from what we agreed, we will be sitting soon so
that we iron out what is left out because our position is to ensure that the
employer raises the salary to afford the worker a decent lifestyle, affording
all the basics.”
The civil servants’ umbrella union, she said, was pushing
for the latest adjustment to be backdated to January this year.
“We want to push for a backdated payment to January 1, 2024
so that the employees recover what was lost for the past months due to
inflation.
“For now, the employer cited that it is still the start of
the year and revenues are still low but promised to improve the salaries in
line with our requests,” added Mrs Alexander.
A civil servant, Mr Jubilant Masungise, applauded the
Government.
“It has always been our plea for the Government to peg our
salaries in US dollars to hedge against inflation.
“I think they have made a good improvement.
“However, we were expecting to have our salaries backdated
because the local currency component was eroded months back,” he said.
The Government introduced a US$75 Covid-19 allowance in
2020 and has progressively increased it to US$300, but since it was an
allowance, it was exempted from being taxed.
In January, this was reviewed and the allowances became
part of the pensionable salary.
As the improvement of the welfare of workers has remained a
top priority, a 15-member team was appointed, with the mandate to negotiate at
the NJNC for two years with effect from January 1 this year. Sunday Mail
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