News / National
Stanbic management, employees ink wage deal
05 Aug 2019 at 07:40hrs | Views
Management and employees at Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe Limited, a subsidiary of Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, have agreed on an upwards review on the latter's wages, NewsDay reported.
According to well-placed sources, to avoid a potential strike, Stanbic management and workers agreed on a payment plan whereby $400 will be deducted from an employee's monthly wages and multiplied by an agreed upon rate, currently at 7,5. Once the figure is derived, the balance remaining after the $400 deduction will be added to the new figure.
For example, if an employee earns $1 000 monthly, $400 is deducted and multiplied by the 7,5 giving $3 000. The remaining balance of $600 of the salary is then added to the $3 000 to give $3 600 as the new monthly salary.
"They are still finalising the discussions, so they are still piloting the new arrangement after starting it for July wages. But, I can confirm that they now have an agreement, which I think is a good starting point. What happened is that they (Standard Bank representatives) sent a team from their head office in South Africa to look at the pricing, after we threatened to sleep in and also go to the Stanbic bank head office. They were not understanding what was happening with the cost of living here, which is why they sent the team," the source said.
"So, they went into shops, real estate to ask for rentals and they were really shocked by the level of pricing which they saw, making them agree that they would give everyone $400, deducted from their monthly salaries, which would be multiplied by a factor which is almost close to the interbank forex rate. Each month, they (Stanbic Bank management) and employees will agree on a factor."
This agreement comes after Stanbic advanced its employees $1 000 in allowances to avert a strike mid last month, as the economic situation continues to deteriorate, buoyed by a failing local currency.
The advancement was confirmed by the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers' Union.
It was after employees at both the Jason Moyo Stanbic, Bulawayo and the Nelson Mandela Harare Stanbic branches, came to work with blankets threatening to sleep in, arguing that their disposable incomes could no longer sustain them.
Standard Bank operates in 18 African countries.
According to well-placed sources, to avoid a potential strike, Stanbic management and workers agreed on a payment plan whereby $400 will be deducted from an employee's monthly wages and multiplied by an agreed upon rate, currently at 7,5. Once the figure is derived, the balance remaining after the $400 deduction will be added to the new figure.
For example, if an employee earns $1 000 monthly, $400 is deducted and multiplied by the 7,5 giving $3 000. The remaining balance of $600 of the salary is then added to the $3 000 to give $3 600 as the new monthly salary.
"They are still finalising the discussions, so they are still piloting the new arrangement after starting it for July wages. But, I can confirm that they now have an agreement, which I think is a good starting point. What happened is that they (Standard Bank representatives) sent a team from their head office in South Africa to look at the pricing, after we threatened to sleep in and also go to the Stanbic bank head office. They were not understanding what was happening with the cost of living here, which is why they sent the team," the source said.
This agreement comes after Stanbic advanced its employees $1 000 in allowances to avert a strike mid last month, as the economic situation continues to deteriorate, buoyed by a failing local currency.
The advancement was confirmed by the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers' Union.
It was after employees at both the Jason Moyo Stanbic, Bulawayo and the Nelson Mandela Harare Stanbic branches, came to work with blankets threatening to sleep in, arguing that their disposable incomes could no longer sustain them.
Standard Bank operates in 18 African countries.
Source - newsday
