Zimbabwean News You Can Trust.
Public workers and the government have agreed on a new salary package but the parties still have differences that need to be ironed out.
On Friday, the government and representatives of civil servants met under the auspices of the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC).
Speaking to New Ziana, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Paul Mavima said the salary negotiations will continue on Thursday this week.
He said, “Negotiations are continuing. There are a few sticking points that can be resolved. They will sit again on Thursday to continue with the negotiations.
“[However] we are not going to disclose what we offered. But the fact that they went back to the negotiating table means there was a variation. We would not go back without a variation.
Secretary general of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Workers Unions, David Dzatsunga, said the current salary negotiations have not reached the common grounds yet.
He said, “The Government did come up with a substantially reviewed offer, which was a fairly reasonable response to our demands.
“The offer, though it was speaking to our counteroffer, there were some sticking points of equality where we felt that all workers should be treated equally.
“Within their offer, there were some measures that we felt would, in a way, divide the workers.
“We are saying that the reviewed salaries should be backdated to January while the Government offer is from April 1st.
“We are going to have to persuade them to backdate the offer.”
Civil servants are demanding US$840 for the lowest-paid worker but the government has rejected the demands citing budgetary constraints.
