Govt, workers head for collision 

Source: Govt, workers head for collision –Newsday Zimbabwe

THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has demanded that government should legislate minimum wages in United States dollars to cushion workers from the harsh economic environment caused by distorted currency rates.

ZCTU said workers would resort to “other means” if government fails to meet their demands.

This comes as teachers are planning to embark on a strike tomorrow to demand that their salaries be paid 100% in US dollars.

Teachers have since reviewed their previous salary demands from US$540 as per pre-October 2018 rates to US$1 260, citing the country’s high inflation.

Speaking to journalists in Gweru yesterday, ZCTU acting secretary-general Kudakwashe Munengiwa said the labour body would resort to “other means” if government is not committed to addressing salary issues of employees who earn in local currency at a time the economy has dollarised.

“We are calling on the Minister of Labour, Professor (Paul) Mavima to legislate minimum wages, failing which as the working class we reserve the right to see what other concerted measures we can take that will make sure our issues are heard,” Munengiwa said.

“Workers have suffered enough. They have gone through hell and it is high time the government of the day must address those issues, and if they can’t address those issues, we reserve the right to resort to other measures to make sure workers’ concerns are heard in this country. We have written to government to say we believe all workers should be paid in United States dollars.

“We believe in the position that we agreed with government on September 23, 2022 (in the Tripartite Negotiating Forum) that the least-paid worker should get US$150 as basic pay. We have written to the Minister of Labour that this must be implemented because the agreement was that from September up to December 2022, the minimum wage is pegged at US$150 and then from December to March 2023, that figure is reviewed.”

Munengiwa said the economy had self-dollarised and that workers were being short-changed by continuing to be paid in Zimbabwe dollars.

“What we are saying is that the life of a common working man is in danger because the earnings in line with the cost of living does not tally. So our fight is to say dollarise everything. You can’t dollarise subsectors, dollarise fuel, dollarise passports among other goods and services yet you can’t dollarise my income.”

He said the level of poverty in the country was forcing people to resort to corruption and theft to survive.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) president Obert Masaraure said teachers would embark on an indefinite strike from tomorrow.

“We remain clear and firm on downing tools on March 1. Teachers have been too generous with their labour and it’s time that we get what we deserve. Teachers will not be reporting for duty as they will be at their homes. This is not an Artuz initiative, but it is from all the teachers who are campaigning for US dollar salaries across the country.

“Hence, we demand a 100% US dollar component of salary and an upward review amounting to US$1 260,” Masaraure said.

Efforts to get a comment from Mavima were fruitless as his phone was not reachable.

Public Service Commission secretary Simon Masanga’s phone was also not reachable.

Recently, Mavima told parliamentarians that government would continue to push for negotiations with unions to stop industrial action, but was in no position to give its employees US dollar salaries being demanded due to tight fiscal space.

“As much as we agree to a decent salary, we cannot have an optimum salary of US$540 being asked for by the workers. As Zimbabweans, do we have the capacity to pay that amount per each employee? That fiscal space is not there,” he said in the National Assembly.

On several occasions, government has rebuffed workers’ demands for US dollar salaries and has, instead, been resorting to paying them US$ allowances.