via Zimbabwe Unable to Pay New Civil Servant Salaries VOAZimbabwe 13 February 2013
Civil servants were given confidence to pursue their salary demands by President Robert Mugabe who pledged to increase their pay cheques during campaign rallies ahead of last year’s elections.
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has riled civil servants, telling them the government is broke and unable to pay them adjusted salaries this month but maybe in April triggering a call for industrial action from some workers.
Workers’ represantatives who met Chinamasa late Tuesday told VOA the minister pleaded with the trade unionists to ask their members, who had threatened to strike last month, to continue working while the government looks for the money. The government, according to Chinamasa, may be able to pay the new salaries in April.
Last month Harare bowed to pressure from worker’s unions and agreed to increase their salaries from about $300 for the lowest paid employee to about $500. The unions wanted the lowest paid employee to get at least $540 a month, currently the poverty datum line.
Civil servants were given confidence to pursue their salary demands by President Robert Mugabe who pledged to increase their pay cheques during campaign rallies ahead of last year’s elections. He repeated the remarks on the need to improve civil servant salaries when he was sworn into office after the elections.
Said Mr. Mugabe then: “We have promised to address the issue of salaries and conditions of living. We pledge to fulfill this promise this year.”
However, that pledge appears far from being fulfilled judging by the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting.
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association Chief Executive Officer Sifiso Ndlovu told VOA the unions are now consulting their members on the way forward.
“We are consulting on what action to take following the meeting with both the Minister of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare, Nicholas Goche and Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa,” said Ndlovu.
COMMENTS
They cannot afford these wages fullstop. Our country has been bankrupted Ladies and Gentlemen. Bankrupt because we have had the same CEO in Mugabe since 18th April 1980. Someone who has degrees in violence and knows nothing about economic nitty gritties.
When they can no longer pay the police nor pay, or even feed the army zanu will collapse
Where is Raymond Majongwe during these trying times? He was singing all sorts of praises for mugabe after the nikuved elections. He was also blaming Biti for not paying teachers enough after the ex-finance minister told the nation that there was no money in the coffers! Who is he going to blame now? I am eagerly waiting for his statement in relation to the latest development.
hehehehehe and you will just starve to death quietly,,,,ahhh bob knows how to sort people out,,very good ,,more to come
30% by 2018. This implies most of the civil servants will be fired. That is a policy I can support.
Zimbabweans you deserve no increment cause you are corwards
i second that talkwabweans!!!!
Only teachers nurses deserve. Rest of criminal service are zanoid layabout ghost workers plundering. The revolutionary shakeup is gonna be bloody. Oh yeah. Theses lazy bogus pseudo warvet rubbish are also slobbering for more loot again. !!!!! What bankruptcy????
Where is this lady from ZIMTA by the name of Cecilia who said the negotiations they had with government this year were far better than the ones they had with the Unity Government. Tell me Cecilia were you ever cheated like this by the Unity Government. Are you really a trade unionist or a CIO on duty in Zimta.
What you see is what you get folks! Vote zanupf in 2018 for more broken promises!
Who cares! We shall think about them in 2018!
Majongwe sold out period. And civil servants should be strategic in their demands. This is no time to just ask for money but regime change. With this regime still in place forget about any sustained sustainable change
The writing is on the wall for Mugabe, his Service Chiefs and corrupt ZANU PF stalwarts like the likes of Obert Mpofu and many more. ..