CSAWUZ accuses Rupiah of power abuse over salary deductions

CSAWUZ accuses Rupiah of power abuse over salary deductions
Written by Agness Changala
Monday, July 06, 2009 11:54:09 AM

President Rupiah Banda’s directive that public workers who participated in the just-ended strikes should have their salaries deducted amounts to abuse of power, Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) general secretary Darrison Chaala has said.

And Health Workers Union of Zambia (HWUZ) president Chrispine Sampa said it was unfair for the government to deduct money from health workers when they were owed huge sums of money.

Commenting on President Banda’s directive to permanent secretaries in Ndola on Saturday that public service employees who absconded from duty during the strike should not be paid for their days they stayed away from work, Chaala said abuse of power did not just amount to failing to follow certain procedures but also intimidating civil servants using power.

“I am, therefore, urging the government to swallow its pride and pay workers what is due to them because it is frustration that caused the workers to strike,” he said.

Chaala advised the government not to display arrogance over the matter because of power. He said it was not good for the government to continue to intimidate the workers even when it had failed to address their concerns.

“When you look at the demands of health workers, for example, not a single one has been attended to,” Chaala said. “The government owes workers billions of money in unpaid leave, travel benefits and other outstanding allowances.”

He observed that the government was not making any effort to address the problems of workers other than intimidating them with dismissals. Chaala said since the workers complied with the government’s appeal for them to go back to work, their grievances could also be attended to even without negotiations.

And Chaala blamed the government for paying housing allowances to workers occupying government houses, saying they were the ones causing the problems.

“Why should they pay housing allowances to those occupying the government houses?” he asked.

He said last year, the union had advised the government to rescind this decision as it was scandalous.

“For example, permanent secretaries and other officers are entailed to K1.5 million housing allowance and they are living in government houses,” he said. “The law on the Employment Act states that an employer may leave the house on offer of an allowance in view of the house and both can’t be given.”

Chaala said if the advice was followed, the government would be able to give workers an increase in housing allowances of up to K600,000 from the current K110,000 per month.

And Sampa said there was need to harmonise the dispute between the government and public service employees.

“The government owes workers colossal amounts of money ranging from housing allowances and many more other allowances ranging from 2003 and we can’t be talking about deducting allowances from the salary,” he said.

He called on President Banda to pardon workers in all areas.

Sampa wondered why the government had resorted to such a decision when they had agreed that the workers’ grievances were genuine.

“It does not work like that, the government accepted that the workers grievances are genuine and I am appealing to the President to drop everything so that we start from somewhere,” said Sampa.