Another civil servants' salary increment on the cards

THE Government will effect a 45 percent salary increment for all public sector workers next month, raising this year's cumulative pay adjustments to 70 percent.

In April, civil servants' salaries were raised by 25 percent, with authorities undertaking to effect another salary bump by midyear. The last adjustment witnessed the lowest paid Government worker earning a monthly salary equivalent to US$205 using the official exchange rate. The adjustments are part of Government's roadmap to restore its workers' salaries to multi-currency era levels of at least US$540 per month for the lowest paid worker.

Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima told our Harare Bureau that the increment will be effected while negotiations with workers' representatives continue.

"Negotiations are going on but there are still differences with the representatives of civil servants. We are still committed to effecting the 45 percent adjustment that we promised next month as we had planned earlier. We are also discussing within the Government. Permanent secretaries from the Ministries of Education and Finance and my Ministry are in discussions to come up with a common position that we will present to the unions soon."