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Tongai Muzenda

Felex Share Herald Reporter
Government has given unions representing civil servants 48 hours to put their house in order and submit names of nine substantive negotiators for salary increment talks or it will map the way forward on its own. This comes after worker representatives yesterday failed to name negotiators when they met Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Tongai Muzenda and Permanent Secretary in the ministry Mr Ngoni Masoka.

Government last week issued a five-day ultimatum to the civil servants for the same reasons. That ultimatum lapsed on Sunday and Government has given them two more days to get properly organised.

After the meeting, Deputy Minister Muzenda said the nine negotiators should be known by Wednesday.

“We do not want to have a situation whereby Government comes up with a unilateral position on the issue of their salaries and working conditions,” he said.

“Their voice should be heard and I have told them to submit the list by Wednesday for negotiations to start.”

Deputy Minister Muzenda said Government negotiators were ready to engage civil servants.

“A lot of people think that Government is not ready for negotiations, but we are,” he said. “We cannot intervene in their dispute because the law does not allow that and hopefully by tomorrow (today) they would come up with an agreed position and submit the names by Wednesday.”

The unions last Friday tried to come up with the names, but six out of the 12 unions boycotted the meeting amid allegations that not all unions were serious about representing workers.

Those that attended came up with a list of negotiators which Government rejected as it did not have buy-in from other unions.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association president Mr Richard Gundane said while the unions would meet today to map the way forward, Statutory Instrument 141 of 1997, which stipulates the number of negotiators the unions should bring to the negotiating table, should be reviewed.

“We are failing to have the nine negotiators because everyone among the 12 unions wants a seat,” he said. “As such, we call for a Statutory Instrument which clearly informs procedures and unions which qualify to second people for negotiations.

“Some unions without any membership want to be part of the negotiating team. Because what is important at the moment is negotiating for our members, we are going to meet the deadline set by Government.”

Teachers Union of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Manuel Nyawo said although they will convene today it was difficult to agree on “who goes where”.

“Government officials we met today (yesterday) expressed disappointment and frustration with the behaviour of the unions because names are stalling everything,” he said.

“Our problem is who gets what position in the Apex Council (the supreme civil servants’ representative body) because 12 unions are trying to share nine seats.

“It is something we will work on before this second deadline lapses.”

College Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe president Mr David Dzatsunga added: “Government has once again appealed to us and if we fail, Government might end up imposing salaries on us without negotiating something which we do not want. We should agree as unions to enable every step to happen before it is too late.”

President Mugabe last week said Government was committed to a salary increment, while the Zanu-PF Annual National People’s Conference in Chinhoyi at the weekend resolved that the State should peg minimum wages to the poverty datum line.

The least-paid Government worker is getting US$297, while the PDL stands at US$540.