Civil servants say they will not accept a Zimbabwe dollar salary increment and will only consider a US dollar offer from their employer.
Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU), David Dzatsunga, told Business Times that if they don’t get US dollars, they would be excluded from the economy. Dzatsunga said:
We gave the government representatives a position that workers are only accepting US$ salary.
They said we don’t have a mandate from the principles to speak to that and they asked for time to consult.
They should just put a mind to it that what can one do with ZWL$, where can you buy, you go to the black market to access US$ as everything now needs forex for example landlords need hard currency, fuel requires the same, passport and schools hence no need for the local currency offer.
If we don’t get US$ we are excluded from the economy.
We flatly rejected the 100% ZWL$ increment and anything to do with the ZWL$ as it will not mean anything especially when the authorities say the effective date will be July 1.
If we negotiate now, by the time that money gets into our account it will not mean anything.
Last week, civil servants rejected the government’s 100% Zimbabwe dollar salary increment.
The lowest-paid civil servant earns about ZWL$18 000 plus an allowance of US$175.
Another National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) meeting is expected this week to break the deadlock.
Civil servants are demanding a pre-October 2018 salary level of US$540 a month.
The cost of living for a family of six is now over ZWL$133 000 per month, with the average civil servant earning less than half of that figure.