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Zim civil servants threaten strike
Sebastian Nyamangambiri & Tobias Manyuchi, ZimOnline
January 14, 2011

http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=6520

Zimbabwean civil servants on Thursday rejected an 18 to 26 percent salary hike from the government and gave the cash-strapped administration seven days to improve the offer or face crippling industrial action.

Chairwoman of the Apex Council that brings together government worker representative bodies, Tendai Chikowore, said public workers were rejecting the salary offer which she described as paltry and a sign of the government's unwillingness to address the plight of its struggling workers.

She said: "The Apex council notes with concern the lack of sincerity and failure by government to address perennial demands by civil servants to pay adequate remuneration levels which are formed by the bread basket which oscillates around US$502.

"Our analysis is that the remuneration levels as proposed by government constitute only 30 percent of the bread basket. This is a far cry, it is not at par with the high expectations held by workers across the country."

The Apex council that met with the government in the capital yesterday brings together civil service unions - the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Zimbabwe Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ZIMTA), Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ), College Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe (COLAZ) and Public Service Association (PSA).

The offer rejected by workers would have seen the lowest paid among them taking home about $160 up from $128 with the highest paid civil servants earning around $241 per month.

Transport and housing allowances were similarly slightly increased from $7 to $20 and from $6 to $12 respectively.

Chikowere said civil servants want the lowest paid worker taking home around U$500, money the unity government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai - which says it already is using 60 percent of total collected revenues on salaries - says it does not have.

But PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe said the government should use money raised from diamond exports to pay its workers.

"We have diamonds in this country and revenue is rising daily. Where is that money going?" said Majongwe. "If the government respects its workers, we will see what they will do in seven days. A more pronounced and proactive position will be made after that period."

While Zimbabwe has vast diamond resources at the controversial Marange mines it has not been able to fully exploit the valuable stones after the Kimberley Process (KP) that regulates the world diamond industry banned the Zimbabwean gems because of concerns over human rights abuses at the mines in the east of the country.

Since the formation of the unity government, civil servants including teachers and health workers returned to work on the back of promises by the new administration to improve salaries and conditions of service.

But failure by the unity government to convince major Western nations to provide direct financial support could see basic services such as health and education collapse again as civil servants strike or, as before, resume the exodus to foreign countries where wages and livings conditions are better.

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