Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) No money for striking civil servants: minister

No money for striking civil servants: minister
Ranganai Chidemo
Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:56:00 +0000

PUBLIC Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, from the MDC-T party, said on Monday that government had no money to pay tens of thousands of striking civil servants the salary increases they were demanding. Mukonoweshuro's announcement is in stark contrast to promises made by Morgan Tsvangirai when he became prime minister.

“Our public service has ground to a halt as many of our patriotic government employees can no longer afford to eat, let alone pay for transport to their place of work,” said Tsvangirai back in February 2009.

“Hard currency salaries will enable people to go to work, to feed their families and to survive until such time that we can begin to sustain ourselves as a country.”

On Friday, the Zimbabwe Public Service Association (ZPSA), which represents about 200 000 civil servants, announced an indefinite strike to press their demands for a hike in pay.

"It is not unwillingness on the part of the government. It is simply the lack of fiscal capacity on our part," Mukonoweshuro said.

"Everyone in government knows that what our workers are getting does not meet their daily basic expenses," he admitted.

The civil servants are demanding that the salary of the lowest-paid workers be increased from $120 a month to $630 a month.

Government has offered to increase their wages to US$122 in February, rising to $134 in April.

"Even if they ask for 300 dollars for the least paid, that would bring the salary bill to 1.3 billion dollars, which is more than the annual budget of the government," Mukonoweshuro explained.

He appealed to the workers to return to negotiations, saying their decision to strike was "premature".

Raymond Majongwe, secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, ruled out a return to work, saying: "Let them sell diamonds and we share that wealth instead of it being enjoyed by few individuals."

On Monday, most public schools were closed and the functioning of the country's courts was also affected.

Labels: CIVIL SERVANTS, ELIPHAS MUKONOWESHURO, MDC

posted by MrK @ 1:41 PM