The Sunday Mail
Debra Matabvu
Government will engage its employees in a crucial indaba this week in Harare to iron out sticking issues of salary payment dates for this month and beyond, working conditions and 2016 bonuses, among other issues. The Sunday Mail understands that tomorrow, Government will meet members of the Apex council, the umbrella body for civil servants, to find common ground in the wake of late payment of salaries.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira confirmed the meeting that is expected to have high level representation from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and civil servant representatives.
While the minister could not be drawn into revealing the agenda of the meeting, she said, “There is going to be National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) on Monday and it is part of the ongoing meeting that Government is having with workers and various issues are set to be discussed.”
However, Apex council president, Cecelia Alexander, said issues to be discussed include civil servants’ salary dates for July as well as bonus payments for this year.
She said the meeting will also be used to engage Government on civil servants’ working conditions.
“The Government called for the meeting. However, as the Apex council, there are a few issues that we intend to discuss with our employer,” she said.
“Issues that include the victimization of workers when they embark on industrial actions will definitely be discussed. We have been receiving reports that Public Service Commission Inspectors have been going around in schools threatening those that did not attend school on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We feel that this is an unfair practice because this decision was done collectively by unions and it is unfair for them to target individuals. In other words, the issue is between unions and Government.
“We are also going to talk about the delays in salary payments and the way forward, the state of the economy and how it affects our members since they are the bulk of workforce in the country,” she said.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) secretary general, Mr John Mlilo said they expect Government to come up with a concrete schedule of payment dates for the rest of the year to enable the employees to make informed budgets.
“We want a clear road map on when Government is going to pay our salaries for the remaining months of the year. We want a substantive timetable of salary payments,” he said.
“We also want to talk about the bonus issue, that is, if and when we are going to receive them.”
Government has been facing challenges in paying employees on time due to cash flow constraints. The revenue situation forced Government to stagger payment of 2015 bonuses.
Most State employees began accessing their June salaries last week. The delay in salary payment had almost crippled essential services as some workers were arguing that they had exhausted transport money.
Treasury then swiftly moved in to quell the situation last week, paying teachers and nurses, while the payment dates for pensioners has been tentatively set for July 19.
However, there are indications that the workforce is bloated. In 2015, a civil service audit report by Government concluded that $400 million could be saved by restructuring the workforce through retrenchments, consolidating posts and duties.
Human resources expert, Mr Memory Nguwi, said it is critical for Government to speed up the restructuring exercise in order to meet the salaries bill.
“The current civil service challenges related to salaries could be an indication that there is no proper workforce planning.
‘‘There is no doubt that with the current level of economic activity, most of the civil service departments are over-staffed,”
“This is the reality and Government needs to deal with it. With proper evidence based analysis, streamlining the civil service can be done efficiently.”
