Zimta gives 48-hour ultimatum

TEACHERS yesterday demanded that the government pay, within 48 hours, salaries of their colleagues who were struck off the payroll following a recent civil service audit.

Two months ago, the government stopped the salaries of at least 3,000 teachers after auditors found them absent from their work stations during a head count conducted in April this year.

The physical count of teachers and other government employees is meant to remove ghost workers from the civil service payroll.

In a statement, Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) national president, Richard Gundane, said the government was flouting workers' rights by not paying them.

"We demand that the process of reinstating teachers' salaries be expedited and that it be carried out in a period of 48 hours as promised during the government and workers' consultation processes held during the last week of August 2015," said Gundane.

"Failure by the authorities to reinstate salaries on time is an infringement on the workers' rights, and in particular on the workers' labour rights to a decent wage for a decent job."

He called for clarity on the employment status of teachers who have been de-registered from the government payroll.

"Zimta is alarmed and seriously agitated by the levels of inefficiency and unprofessionalism being exhibited by the Civil Service Commission, Public, Labour and Social Welfare Ministry and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in addressing matters affecting teachers.

"There seems to be no urgency on the part of the concerned Civil Service Commission to address the disadvantaged teachers' concerns, some of whom are entering into a third month of unpaid salaries," Gundane said.

He said the process of reinstating the de-registered teachers is taking too long.

Gundane said as schools opened yesterday, the Union could no longer adopt a wait and see attitude as teachers would be forced to return to work without money.

"It's the union's conviction that teachers can't continue to lose their income as a result of inefficient processes and bureaucratic procedures between two ministries which should ordinarily be responsible for teachers' earnings and upkeep.

"It's our considered view that professional teachers can't be sacrificed for the country's economic problems neither can they be used for downsizing government expenditure through the use of auditing processes that result in the negative effects of taking away the teachers' rightly earned income ," he said.

The Zimta president said the government must take the plight of its workers seriously and demanded better action from their employer.

The government yesterday launched its second staff audit at schools to check on the teacher-pupil ratio in each class as part of efforts to flush out ghost workers in the civil service.

The exercise, which forms the backbone of the government's efforts to remove ghost workers from its payroll and reduce the public service wage bill, is being led by the Civil Service Commission.

"Please be advised that Civil Service Commission officials will be visiting schools for the head count of teachers and pupils at each and every station," read a circular dated August 28 sent to schools throughout the country.

The government in April embarked on the civil service audit in an effort to establish the size of its workforce. The exercise was also meant to help reduce the huge wage bill which is gobbling more than 80 percent of the National Budget.