The Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Union (ZCPSTU) on Thursday wrote to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, requesting an urgent meeting to review civil servants’ salaries.
ZCPSTU, formerly the Civil Service Apex Council, is the union representing civil servants.
In the letter, ZCPSTU expressed disappointment over what it termed “unreasonable delays” by the Government to convene a salary review meeting. The union said:
ZCPSTU writes to express our utmost disappointment at the unreasonable delay to convene NJNC (National Joint Negotiating Council) in spite of the dire necessity for it in the light of the huge deficit between prices and wages which has left workers subsisting on the USD250 allowance.
ZCPSTU said recent media reports of Government officials promising salary negotiations had raised workers’ hopes, yet the promises have not been fulfilled. Reads the letter:
This has created a legitimate expectation amongst the workers that a solution is near, making our work as unions a lot harder to explain the delay and why the employer would be comfortable with a situation where their workers have no salary to speak of, only an allowance.
Our legitimate request is that we want an NJNC now. We have taken the resolve to visit your office as a delegation of ZCPSTU this Friday 30 June at 1000hrs to help us appreciate the employer’s position regarding the situation of workers. We look forward to being hosted by you.
Public sector workers currently earn US$250 in allowances, while their salary, which is in the fast-depreciating Zimbabwe dollars, is now about US$13.
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