Tourism workers, employers reach pay deal

via Tourism workers, employers reach pay deal | The Source February 19, 2014 

Tourism workers and employers have agreed salary increments of 5.5 percent for the high earning employees and 45.5 percent for the lowest paid workforce, the industry union has said.

Zimbabwe Tourism and Allied Workers Union secretary general Penel Chinoda confirmed the deal, which was reached at a weekend meeting in Victoria Falls. Initial talks broke down when the two parties failed to reach a deal in January.

The tourism sector is divided into two sections – Sector 1 for mainly hotel and lodge employees and Sector 2 for mostly those in conservation, safari and wildlife operations.

With the increments, workers in lowest grade in Sector 1 will now earn $103 from $70 while the lowest paid in Sector 2 takes home $285 from $275.

These salaries do not include allowances and other packages.

Employees were asking for increments of between 130 percent and 236 percent to bring them closer to the poverty datum line figure of $535.

The tourism sector is Zimbabwe’s third highest foreign currency earner after mining and agriculture, earning $851 million in 2013 but is among the lowest paying industries.