Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Professor Paul Mavima, has said that the government was ready to engage workers over the cost of living adjustment (COLA) adding that a meeting with the workers’ Apex Council had already been scheduled.
His remarks come after the workers’ representatives had written to the Public Service Commission (PSC) requesting a National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) meeting on a cushioning allowance for December. Speaking to the Herald, Mavima said:
We will comply. We need dialogue. Our side will organise. I am also due to meet with them on Wednesday next week as the entirety of the labour group.
Workers and government have this year met on a number of occasions to deliberate on the COLA with workers arguing that their salaries were being eroded by the soaring inflation.
Among other intervention measures to cushion the worker, the government introduced the heavily subsidised ZUPCO buses which charge a very low fare.
Meanwhile, workers say that the initiative is insufficient as the economy is inflationary.
More: The Herald