|
Back to Index
Striking
Zim magistrates awarded wage hike
Mail & Guardian (SA)
January 06, 2008
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=329017&referrer=RSS
President Robert Mugabe's
government has awarded a hefty salary hike to Zimbabwe's magistrates
and prosecutors, who have been on strike since October, official
media reported on Sunday.
Zimbabwean workers have
been hit hard by an economic crisis critics blame on Mugabe's policies
and has seen inflation jump to nearly 8
000%, the highest in the world.
Magistrates and prosecutors
walked out of their jobs in October in protest against low pay,
paralysing the judicial system. Several court cases had to be postponed.
The state-run Sunday
Mail reported that the government had raised salaries to between
Z$460-million ($15 333 at the official exchange rate but $230 on
the widely used black market) and Z$1-billion. Previously, the lowest
paid magistrate earned Z$20-million per month.
Doctors and nurses joined
the job boycott in December, while teachers, the bulk of government
employees, also threatened not to return to work when schools open
for the new term next week.
Many government employees
are failing to turn up for work because of rising transport costs.
"The employer has
decided to pay all civil servants one half of the total package
mid-month and the remaining half towards the end of the month to
enable the officers and employees of government to continue coming
to work," the newspaper quoted senior Justice Ministry official
David Mangota as saying.
Government officials
and union representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Economic analysts have
said Zimbabwe is likely to see more strikes by dissatisfied workers
grappling with an economic recession marked by shortages of foreign
currency, food and fuel, and rising unemployment. -- Reuters
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
