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President Mugabe and First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe wave to supporters at a rally

Felex Share Herald Reporter
Civil servants’ unions have welcomed Zanu-PF’s resounding victory in the just-ended harmonised elections saying a one party Government will ensure their conditions of service and salaries are improved. The Government workers failed to get a meaningful salary increment during the tenure of the inclusive Government with the then Finance Minister and MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti repeatedly telling them that Government had no money to meet their demands.

The civil servants also failed to engage Government over salary negotiations as the outgoing Public Service Minister Lucia Matibenga evaded them and they accused her of being “arrogant” on the few occasions they met.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive Mr Sifiso Ndlovu said the commitment Zanu-PF had towards education would see it prioritising the welfare of the country’s educators and the entire civil service.

“After a torrid four-year period during this marriage (inclusive Government) as workers we congratulate Zanu-PF for the victory. We welcome that victory because the creation of an educated population by the party since independence managed to see us having a high level of peace and tolerance before, during and after the elections,” he said.

“We now expect the party to get into action now, continue with empowering programmes and ensure people’s lives are improved.”
Mr Ndlovu said they expected to see the creation of jobs through the indigenisation and empowerment programmes.

“We need a curriculum that supports this thrust and we need a united labour force that is governed by harmonised labour laws and we do not want laws that continue to segregate civil servants from the rest of the workers,” he said.

“All the workers need fair protection under the Labour Act and the new Government should give workers democratic space where they participate in the determination of their conditions of service unlike what we saw with the previous Government.”

Civil servants’ salaries, Mr Ndlovu said, needed to be reviewed in line with the poverty datum line.
The lowest paid Government worker is getting US$297 while the PDL is over US$600.

“We also have to attract the intellectual capital and also ensure that those who ran away from the country during the economic meltdown come back.”
President Mugabe, during one of his campaign rallies, said Government would use revenue from diamonds and gold to revive closed industries and improve the salaries of civil servants which Minister Biti refused to review despite a directive to do so.

Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Manuel Nyawo said they were happy Zimbabweans had done away with the inclusive Government.
“”The party forming the next Government has experience and it is our hope that our salary disputes would be addressed,” he said.

“President Mugabe has assured us and we do not doubt that because he has done so before and we urge him to give us ministers who are sensitive to our plight not what we have witnessed in the past years. Some even refused to negotiate with us but now it’s a different situation.”

College Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe president Mr David Dzatsunga said it was always important for the employer and employees to engage in dialogue.
“There now will be dialogue and we have great hope that our concerns will be addressed. It might not be possible to address them at once but now we have a starting point.”

The restive Government workers in January this year got a 5,3 percent increment that failed to pacify them as it was insignificant.