Civil servants under the Apex Council have written to their employer requesting a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the month of December.
A letter written by the Council’s chairperson Cecilia Alexander requesting the government for an urgent National Joint Negotiating Council meeting to discuss the proposal reads in part:
The Civil Service Apex Council would like to bring to your attention the further deteriorating value of civil service incomes in the light of spiralling inflation.
Civil servants are now severely incapacitated as the October salary of RTGS$1 023 for the lowest paid worker will not suffice for the December 2019 month end.
The lowest civil servant earns $1 023 per month which is a paltry figure considering runaway inflation.
Meanwhile, the Poverty Datum Line for a family of five persons for October was set at $3 160 by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat).