Inconsistent pay dates, civil servants breathe fire

CIVIL servants unions have urged the government to have fixed pay dates and avoid leaving everything to chance as that was tantamount to taking them for granted.

In an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the National Public Servants' Day commemorations in Shurugwi last Friday, Apex Council chairperson Richard Gundane said government employees were getting impatient with the constant shifts of their pay dates.

"The issue of pay dates should not be left to chance and workers should not be left guessing," Gundane said.

"We are aware that it (government) is now going to come up with new dates, which dates I believe have already been gazetted, if not, will be gazetted shortly.

"We have taken the government to task over salary delays to the extent that they now had to gazette new dates because we have said it is not good to keep people guessing when they are going to get their payments."

Since the beginning of this year, civil servants' pay dates have been constantly shuffled as the cash-strapped government struggles to meet the huge wage bill which gobbles up about 70% of government's monthly revenue.

Gundane said the government should come up with pay dates it could honour and pay salaries without delay.

He also dismissed rumours that teachers were not going to be paid during school holidays.

"Last Friday (20 June) we were in a joint negotiating council meeting with government. It (government) indicated that the issue of teachers not being paid during holidays was just a rumour circulating on social media," he said.