At a press conference in Victoria Falls, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira said that Government’s latest position on the payment of the 2016 bonuses will be tabled at a meeting between Government and workers’ representatives on Monday.
She once again pledged Government’s commitment to improve the welfare of civil servants and said that she could not finalise the bonus talks alone in the absence of Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa who started work yesterday. Said Mupfumira:
The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, that of Finance and Economic Development and the Public Service Commission met today to agree on the Government position to be tabled for consideration at our next meeting with the Apex council on Monday. I just want to assure the nation that as Government we are committed to paying the bonus. After our deliberations today, we are now ready to conclude the matter and bring it to finality on Monday.
Minister Mupfumira said Government had consulted widely after its meeting with civil servants unions on January 25. She said:
We have been consulting. We were supposed to have met on January 20 but one of the key stakeholders Minister Chinamasa wasn’t available. He only commenced work today and to show that we are sincere and serious about our discussions with civil servants, we met today as Government to have our way forward and we can only bring it to the table for consultation and discussion with civil servants on Monday.
The announcement comes at a time when civil servants representatives have called for an industrial action on Monday if their bonus promises are not honoured.
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