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Minister Mupfumira

Paidamoyo Chipunza and Nyemudzai Kakore
Government is committed to paying civil servants their full 2016 bonuses and those calling for industrial action should give dialogue a chance, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira, said yesterday.

The Minister’s remarks follow threats by civil servants under their umbrella body, the Apex Council, to embark on industrial action if their bonus promises are not honoured.

Government has been offering stands for bonuses, a gesture some of the workers turned down.

Minister Mupfumira said the threat to down tools was unfortunate as it was not only retrogressive, but defeated all efforts that had been made towards creating effective dialogue over the bonus issue through the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC).

“Government has received news of a threat to embark on an industrial action by the civil servants Apex Council over the non-payment of bonuses with surprise,” she said. “Government remains committed to honouring the payment of bonuses as announced by His Excellency President R.G Mugabe. Civil servants have always been engaged through the NJNC or directly by myself as the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and my colleagues the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Hon. P Chinamasa or Reserve Bank Governor Dr John Mangudya where the reasons for the delayed payment of civil servants bonuses have always been explained fully,’’ she said.
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Minister Mupfumira said Government was ready to engage the workers and give feedback on March 6, the proposed date for the next meeting.

She said the Apex Council should be mindful of the meeting they held on the 25th of January where they resolved to consult their constituencies and said follow up meetings could not be held on the agreed date as one of the key stakeholders was not available.

Remarks by Minister Mupfumira come after nurses from various Government health institutions countrywide yesterday downed tools demanding that their employer announce dates for payment of bonuses.

The nurses who join junior doctors who have been on strike for the past two weeks, are also demanding managerial positions in the public health system, which are currently reserved for medical doctors.

They are also demanding an upward review of the nursing establishment and revision of their grading system.

A visit to Harare Central Hospital yesterday, showed that a few nurses from the maternity and paediatric departments were attending to patients while the casualty and out patients departments was manned mostly by student nurses.

It was business as usual at Parirenyatwa Central Hospital while reports from Rusape, Karoi, Mutare and Chinhoyi indicated that most of the nurses did not report for duty.

In an interview yesterday, Zimbabwe Nurses Association general secretary Mr Enock Dongo, said their members wanted Government to announce bonus dates instead of continued postponement of meetings.

“Members have agreed that they will only return to work when their issues are solved. So far, no engagement has taken place,” he said.

In their letter addressed to the Health Services Board, the nurses also demanded Government to review its structure, which currently gives priority to medical doctors at the expense of other professionals such as nurses.

The nurses are also demanding Government to review nursing posts as a matter of urgency as more and more graduates are becoming redundant soon after training.

“The process of reviewing staff establishment is long overdue. Over 4 000 of our members are still roaming the streets despite having trained and qualified,” said Mr Dongo. He said until these grievances were addressed, their members would consider returning to work.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association has welcomed the move by nurses to down tools calling on Government to urgently address challenges affecting the health sector.

ZHDA president Mr Farai Munatsi said while they had reservations on some of the issues raised by ZINA, their decision to join medical doctors was testimony to continued neglect to issues affecting the health sector. The latest development by nurses to down tools is likely to affect the health service delivery system in a big way since nurses form the bulk of health workers in Zimbabwe and are also the entry point to healthcare.