Government and civil servants to clash

The government and civil servants are heading for a showdown after its recent decision to freeze the processing of transfers and filling of vacant posts in the civil service.

The recent announcement by the Public Service Commission (PSC) that there will be no more creation of new posts, filling of vacant posts and processing of performance advancement services for civil servants due to financial constraints, has been described as an insincere move by civil servants.

In an interview with ZBC News, the Chief Executive Officer for the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Mr Sifiso Ndlovu said the government is breaching the labour rights of its employees and as civil servants they will not accept such a move.

"This is economic injustice...," he said.

In a statement, the College Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe communications officer, Mr Jingy Makarudze said the move is insincere as the civil servants have for a long time been short changed in matters relating to their welfare.

"It is high time that government stops this insult on its employees…we really need them to show appreciation," Mr Makarudze said.

Part of the PSC statement read: "The resource envelope from treasury does not have any space to accommodate the highlighted personnel requirements. This implies that there will be no processing of transfers, re-gradings, promotions, re-appointments and awards of additional increments on the attainment of higher professional qualifications with immediate effect."

The move, however, means that thousands of teachers, who intended to transfer for various reasons, have been affected.

Civil servants have gone for two years without a salary adjustment.