Is The Govt Not Paying Workers A Cushioning Allowance In August?
Members of the security sector have reportedly started receiving their August salaries. Some have already started expressing concern over the “alleged” absence of a “cushioning allowance” which the government paid them last month.
For the month of July, all public workers were given a cushioning allowance of RTGS$400 on top of their normal salaries which have been greatly eroded by the soaring inflation.
The payday for the security sector is 16 August and salaries started reflecting in bank accounts on the 15th. An insider in the security sector who spoke on anonymity revealed that the cushioning allowance was yet to reflect in banks.
In July however, salaries and the cushioning allowance reportedly came simultaneously for some whilst for some they came at different but not too spaced dates.
The development comes when workers have expressed their discontent with their salaries. Some have since announced incapacitation to fully and effectively execute their contractual duties and obligations.
Workers representatives, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, have been for some time threatening to take it to the streets in protest of the “paltry salaries” they are receiving.
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) also fumed over the announcement by Finance Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, that workers bonuses were coming in November.
PTUZ president, Dr Takavafira Zhou said that the announcement confirmed that the minister was really an enemy of the state as he was not prioritising an urgent issue of salaries which he said needed to be addressed as early as yesterday.
