Workers ordered to abandon strike

Striking Municipality of Gwanda workers have been issued with an order to suspend their industrial action and return to work immediately.

An order issued by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, compelled the striking workers to furnish the local labour officer with a Show Cause Order why they should remain on strike. The council workers who are owed more than five months salaries by the local authority were in their second day of industrial action when the Minister's directive was received by the workers' representative on Thursday morning.

Chairman of the Gwanda Urban Councils Workers Union Mr Sipho Ndlovu confirmed to Bulawayo 24 that the workers had returned to work following the Minister's directive while they prepare their papers to be lodged with the Labour Department in Gwanda on Monday.

"The workers have indeed temporarily returned to work following a directive from the Ministry while we prepare our Show Cause Order. The papers will be presented and discussed with our employer at the labour office on Monday where we will clearly prove to the Labour Department why we should continue on strike and we will immediately down tools when our case has been heard by the Ministry," said Ndlovu.

"We have entered into numerous agreements with Council on our outstanding wages and council continues to fail on them and so they have no reason to stop us taking the industrial action until our wages are paid," he added.

Meanwhile, Council Chairperson of the Finance and Staffing Committee Councillor Dumisani Siziba claims that the workers have no reason to remain on strike as Council has already started clearing the outstanding wages.

"Its not true that Council is not doing anything to clear the outstanding wages, we are already in the process of paying the workers and on the 18th of August we indeed paid some of the workers part of their outstanding wages," he said.

Councillor Siziba claims that the cash strapped Local Authority can not afford to pay the workers the huge salary bill and is negotiating with the workers for a salary cut that will make the wage bill affordable. According to him, the previous Council pegged the salaries too high following a Job Evaluation Exercise.

"There was a job evaluation exercise that was carried out by the previous council and it pegged the wages too high and council can not afford to pay them as the revenue collection is too low. For example, last month we collected $220 000 and from that the wage bill was $216 000 which is not affordable as it compromises service delivery."

In reaction, Ndlovu said that the workers were willing to negotiate with council for a salary cut provided council negotiates in good faith without threatening the workers which is what is causing resistance from the workers.

"We have not refused to negotiate that with Council, the problem is that Council is threatening us to take the wage cut without negotiations on a take it or leave it basis and this is what the workers are resisting," he said.

Ndlovu further added that Council was not doing anything reasonable to clear the outstanding wages as claimed by Councillor Siziba.

"They can not claim to be reducing the outstanding salaries when they are paying people very little amounts and not even meeting the current wage," said Ndlovu.

Asked for a comment on the dead lock between Council and its workers, the Chairman of the Gwanda Residents Association Mr Gilbert Dube said that the two parties need to reach an agreement as soon as possible as their issues are affecting service delivery to the residents. Dube concurred with Council that the Municipality's wage bill is a little bit too high as a huge percentage of Council revenue is being consumed in wages and salaries at the expense of service provision.

"The reduction of wages and salaries across the board must be seriously considered as over 75% of Council revenue is going to Salaries and Wages leaving the rate payers compromised of services expected from Council," said Dube.