Harare workers threaten to go on strike

The Harare Municipal Workers Union has threatened to down tools, accusing council of backtracking on an earlier promise to pay them once revenue inflows improve.

Council employees are owed three months salaries, backdated pay and bonuses from last year and they insist that the Harare City Council has the capacity to pay its workers all the outstanding dues.

Harare Municipal Workers Union Chairperson, Cosmas Bungu said they have requested for an urgent meeting with the Harare Mayor, Bernard Manyenyeni to discuss the issue of salaries, adding that they will be forced to down tools if nothing positive comes out of that meeting.

"We will go on strike because that is the only way we can get our salaries," Bungu said.

Bungu argued that the Harare City Council is not fully exploiting all the channels that can increase its revenue base.

"They forced us to stop the blitz that was bringing in money and that is when all these challenges started," he added.

Failure to pay salaries is not only peculiar to the Harare City Council but other local authorities and companies that are struggling due to the liquidity crisis.