The Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers Union (ZIBAWU) Monday threatened a crippling job action, as they escalated demands for United States dollar-indexed salaries.
Bank workers have joined a growing list of sectors pushing for foreign currency-denominated salaries, saying Zimbabwe dollar salaries were now “useless”.
The domestic currency has been on the decline on both the official and parallel market since its reintroduction in 2019 thereby eroding workers’ buying power.
Last year, ZIBAWU said it was not in agreement with a wage increase of about 350% tabled by banks.
The trade union yesterday said the minimum wage in the sector should be US$900. ZIBAWU president Tawanda Mutemi said:
The banking sector workers want their salaries restored to the 2018 era where the least paid worker got an average of US$900.
Workers in the banking sector are not happy with the salaries that they are earning. It is also true that Zimbabwean banks no longer pay their workers an adequate wage. The same banks are making lots of money in United State dollars. What is more painful is the fact that top management in the banking system are awarding themselves US dollar salaries but are not considering their subordinates.
He also said ZIBAWU had submitted its demand for foreign currency-indexed salaries to banks adding that workers were going to embark on a job action until their grievances were addressed.
A ZIBAWU official told Bloomberg recently that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has shed nearly 500 jobs and 17% of 300 branches have been closed as banks increasingly rely on digital platforms.
More: Bloomberg