The leaders of civil servants’ unions under the Apex Council, are meeting in Harare today, 7th of January 2020, to decide on going on strike to force the government to improve their salaries and working conditions.
Civil servants Apex Council chairperson Cecilia Alexander told the Daily News that public sector workers are tired of the government’s dishonesty. She said:
Having engaged the government since October last year when we declared our incapacitation and having followed that up with several meetings from then up to December, it has become clear that the employer is largely ignoring us as there has been no movement.
… it (the strike), however, depends on what the unions will say … but we all agree that even some of our colleagues in the teaching profession who have said that they will not go back to work when schools open are right because the situation is no longer bearable.
Since the beginning of 2019, civil servants have been threatening industrial action. The government has responded by offering them token additional pay through what it calls Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) and Cushioning Allowances.
The lowest-paid worker is now earning just above ZWL$1 000 per month which is equivalent to less than US$50. using black market rates.