The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) on Thursday urged the private sector to pay workers United States dollar bonuses.
In a statement, ZCTU acting secretary general Runesu Dzimiri implored employers from the private sector to emulate the government which has started paying civil servants’ bonuses in foreign currency. Said Dzimiri:
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has noted the government initiative to pay bonuses in United States Dollars (USD) to cushion the suffering civil servants and call upon all other employers to follow suit.
In the same vein, we are calling upon all employers, including those in the private sector, to emulate the government by incentivizing their employees by giving them a well–deserved bonus after a year of hard work.
Every year most workers look forward to the 13th cheque as a goodwill gesture by employers to motivate them to work hard.
Indeed, in some companies, the 13th cheque is part and parcel of an employment contract.
ZCTU also demanded that all workers be paid in United States dollars saying all goods and services are now priced in foreign currency. Said Dzimiri:
The Zimbabwean economy has dollarized; all goods and services are now indeed to the USD and we continue to sink our heads in the sand and pretend otherwise while salaries remain depressed.
It is our demand that if goods and services are indexed to the USD the same must apply to wages and salaries because labour is a service.