via Civil servants stall pay deal | The Herald October 30, 2013 by Tendai Mugabe
SALARY negotiations between the Government and civil servants are being stalled by disagreement among the workers on who to second to the National Joint Negotiating Council which is expected to make the final agreement on an increment. President Mugabe pledged to improve the lot of civil servants, and the Government recently extended an olive branch to civil service unions to come up with salary proposals in which they asked for US$600 a month for the lowest-paid worker.
According to Statutory Instrument 141 of 1997, civil service unions are supposed to submit names of nine representatives to the NJNC.
Civil service unions that spoke to The Herald yesterday gave conflicting numbers of representatives submitted to the NJNC.
Some said they submitted nine representatives, while others claimed that they presented 12 names to Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche.
Secretary for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Mr Ngoni Masoka last Wednesday wrote a letter to all the 12 unions, urging them to submit the substantive list of their negotiators to the NJNC.
In the letter, Mr Masoka said the delay in coming up with the list was affecting salary negotiations between Government and its workers.
“Reference is made to the meeting of 03 October 2013, wherein you promised to resolve your Apex Council leadership dispute and submit an agreed list of NJNC workers’ negotiators to the Minister,” he said.
“At the moment, no list of the workers’ negotiators has been submitted and this is jeopardising social dialogue between Government and its employees.
“Accordingly, this letter serves as a follow up on how far you have gone in coming up with a properly constituted Apex Council.”
The letter was also copied to Minister Goche, his deputy Cde Tongai Muzenda and the chairman of the NJNC Dr Nelson Sambureni.
In separate interviews yesterday, some of the civil service unions gave conflicting information on why they failed to come up with a number of representatives in line with the law.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Mr Raymond Majongwe accused the Zimbabwe Teachers Association of Zimbabwe and the Public Service Association of being selfish.
He said the two unions insisted on having at least three representatives to the NJNC.
Mr Majongwe said such a number was huge and had a bearing on other unions that should also submit names of their representatives to the same forum.
“They (Zimta and PSA) are being selfish unnecessarily to want to monopolise these seats,” he said.
“People who go to negotiate go there on the collective position agreed by all unions, so it is not necessary for a single union to have more representatives at the NJNC.
Mr Majongwe said it was important for Zimta and PSA to drop their big brother mentality and allow small unions to come on board.
He said they resolved their differences as unions and submitted a list of 12 representatives to Minister Goche.
It was pointless, Mr Majongwe said, for Government to continue insisting on nine negotiators, yet the number of unions registered by the same Government had increased over the years.
But Mr Manuel Nyawo of the Teachers Union of Zimbabwe differed with Mr Majongwe saying they submitted a list of nine negotiators that represented civil servants last year.
Mr Nyawo said it was unwarranted for Mr Majongwe to criticise Zimta and PSA for claiming more seats in the NJNC.
“He (Majongwe) is being stubborn for nothing,” he said. “Just across the Limpopo in South Africa there is recognition of a union with the largest following.
“As such, Zimta here can not have the same number of representatives with other unions because of its size.”
Public Service Association president Mrs Cecilia Alexander denied that they were approaching the negotiations with a “big brother” mentality.
She said there were two unions that were just being stubborn and refusing to cooperate with others.
“As a matter of procedure, we cannot all go to the negotiations,” she said. “There is no big brother mentality here. The issue is that there are some people who do not want to be left out and that is what is creating problems.”
Mrs Alexander said all the unions submitted a list of nine representatives to the NJNC, with the PSA presenting four representatives.
COMMENTS
Negotiating, by definition involves give and take by all sides to resolve an issue. No one should end up with all that they desire, because that would mean that another faction is getting far less then they desire.
If there are 12 unions then the government should expand the negotiations to include all twelve.
For Mrs. Alexander to allege that the problem is that some unions don’t want to be left out of the negotiations is to take a paternalistic, or “big brother,” attitude towards the smaller unions. All should have a voice and the government should be doing whatever it can to ensure that that is what happens.
For the Herald to allege that it’s the unions who are causing the problem is to be divisive rather then supportive of finding a mutually acceptable solution to the negotiations.
The government needs to stop creating tensions for the negotiators on the other side and increase the number of negotiators to 12 with one from each union. By continuing to insist on 9 negotiators, the government is ensuring that no negotiations advance – and that is probably their main goal!
Excuses of delaying giving money to civil servants simple
ELECTIONS ARE OVER! EMPTY AND HOLLOW PROMISES BY ZANUPF!
ELECTIONS ARE OVER! EMPTY AND HOLLOW PROMISES BY ZANUPF!
ZPF imboko, creating confusion to have an excuse for their failure to increase salaries as they promised during elections.
DL hapana zvauri kutaura apa uri kungorutsa zvisina nebasa rese. Nyaya chaiyo ndiyo iyo yataurwa nevarume ava Kalusha Aruna ne mu Arab uyo. Government is trying to find an excuse for not meeting its obligation and promises. Uchanzwa zvichinzi mari hakuna yaka mismanejwa naBiti. Kuhwanda nemunwe kwavava kuita. Mari havana, Biti aitaura nguva dzose asi muchiteerera zvaitaurwa neZANU. Biti ari kunyima macivil servants mari —– saka nhasi taurai tinzwe kuti ndiyani ari kunyima ma civil servantys mari (unopinzwa nyere ukazwikwa).
They will halve your salaries and you will still go to work so dont expect your laughable $600
I see no point in all this chaos. What’s the point of the negotiations? Government definately can’t meet the 600 dollars for the lowest paid civil servant. Government knows what it is capablE of giving. So let it do the salary increments to the best of its abilities. Will the negotiations give government more money? Just give these workers their damn increments and stop looking for flimsy excuses. Zanu my foot!!!
They forced councils and other companies to write-off debts of which they were also beneficiaries. Now they renege on what they were not forced. Sure we still think they are human.
Some parastatals have been operating with voluntary slaves for sometime, lets see how patriotic civil servants are as they negotiate on a promise as if they promised to negotiate than pay the poor fellows.
In its manifesto, Zanu PF said it would indigenise at least 1 138 foreign-owned companies and unlock empowerment value from idle assets of proven mineral claims and others in the hands of parastatals and local authorities. It promised to create over one million jobs in the first year, with 348 000 jobs being in the agricultural sector alone. The manifesto said that one million jobs had already been created as a result of the land reform programme which was spearheaded by war veterans in 2000.
Since the land invasions, which saw hundreds of white-owned commercial farms invaded, Zimbabwe has not been able to adequately feed its population. Zimbabwe’s 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. The government’s subsequent land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs, turning Zimbabwe into a net importer of food products. Until early 2009, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe routinely printed money to fund the budget deficit, causing hyperinflation. Dollarization in early 2009 – which allowed currencies such as the Botswana pula, the South Africa rand, and the US dollar to be used locally – ended hyperinflation and restored price stability but exposed structural weaknesses that continue to inhibit broad-based growth.A tyranny does not necessarily have to be violent. Ask Zimbabweans. Actually, a non-violent one is more pervasive, more real as citizens begin to believe that there is no outside.
Don’t listen to the Herald. Ko kusina maunion akawanda mari yakawedzerwa here eg zbc, herald yacho, air zimbabwe, etc Mugabe is a liar. He is busy preparing to go kugraduation yaBona. Muchazowana mari after March Bona achata
Naive… Zanu criminals can’t print u.s. Dollars. Only their toilet paper zim dollars. Fidelity cranking up the presses to pay civil servants. Treasury broke. The thieves already stole everything and salted their plunder to China Malaysia singapore hongkong Angola equatorial guinea etc