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Golden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter
The Bankers Association of Zimbabwe says demonstrations by the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers Union, against Stanbic Bank over salary issues was illegal.Stanbic Bank workers allegedly wanted a 10 percent salary hike, $200 school fees support per child, 100 percent medical aid cover and free lunch.

The lowest worker earns a gross salary of $627 a month. BAZ though said none of Stanbic’s workers had participated in the demonstrations by Zibawu members towards the end of last month.

BAZ said in terms of the law, Zibawu is not supposed to confront individual banks directly, but engage the association on salary and wage issues, registered in terms of the law after every agreement.

The financial institutions representative body said it did not understand why Zibawu demonstrated against Stanbic since industry salary negotiations for this year were still pending.

BAZ said that Stanbic paid its non-managerial staff above minimum wages stipulated in statutory instrument 150 of 2013 for various grades of the non-managerial workers in the banking sector.

BAZ said that if there is any dispute on collective bargaining issues, the matter is referred to arbitration, since the 2013 agreement was still in force.

Negotiations are conducted between BAZ and Zibawu for industry-wide salary scales not at bank level. BAZ said targeting of Stanbic was therefore illegal.

“Having agreed to a certain level of salaries at Employment Council level, there is no basis for Zibawu to then harass individual banks in order to supplement what has already been agreed at National level,” said BAZ executive director Mr Sij Biyam.

However, Zibawu president Mr Peter Katsande last month said the bank had declined to review salaries and allowances, adding that statutory deductions left workers salaries below poverty datum line.