Government has offered a US$25 salary increment to civil servants to move their salaries up to US$200 a month, amid glaring discrepancy between incomes and monthly requirements.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe immediately described the increment as inconsequential in the face of high inflation and skyrocketing cost of living.
“The government, as usual, thinks it’s all a joke. An increment of only $25 when service providers have already wiped out more than that, really? It would seem that govt is pushing teachers towards real action. It’s a dog’s breakfast,” the teacher group said.
In a statement yesterday, Apex Council president Cecelia Alexander confirmed the new salary package that Government has offered to employees.
“The employer offered an increase of 25 percent on the USD$100 to make it US$125 and maintained the USD$75 Covid-19 allowance to make the total US dollar package US$200 with effect from September 1, 2022. The workers acknowledged the increase but chose to wait for specific modalities on how this is going to be implemented,” said Alexander.
“The employer did not offer or table any increase on the ZWL salary and the workers demanded that this be also reviewed without fail. In the end the Government side asked for time out to consult.”
She said they also deliberated on the payment of bonuses where the employer guaranteed that the bonus is assured.
“Government committed to paying the 2022 bonus in US dollar but did not provide any figures and again asked for time to consult on the payment details and the total offer thereof,” she said.
Alexander said employees notified the employer that the Z$20,000 allowance that Government extended to pay school fees for teachers’ children has been eroded by inflation.
She said workers recommended that the amount be indexed against the US dollar.
“The workers advised the employer to resuscitate already agreed to sector-specific allowances so as to bring all Government workers to the same level to which Government committed to speedily work on the implementation modalities,” she said.
“On the school fees assistance for teachers, the Government indicated that they had faced challenges again with payment modalities, but it was acknowledged by both parties that most of the bottlenecks have now been addressed. The workers then felt that the $20 000 per child was no longer enough given the latest school fees increase and that Government should consider indexing the figure to US$50 value.”
