News / National
Civil servants' right to collective bargaining under threat
4 hrs ago | Views
Proposed amendments to the Public Service Act could strip Zimbabwe's civil servants of key labour rights, including the right to fight for better wages and conditions, legal experts and labour activists have warned.
The Public Service Amendment Bill, gazetted earlier this month, has drawn heavy criticism for undermining state workers' constitutional right to collective bargaining at a time when teachers, nurses, doctors and other public servants are already reeling from collapsing real wages and deteriorating working conditions.
An analytical paper by law firm Matika, Gwisai & Partners argues the Bill is in direct conflict with constitutional guarantees. "The Amendment Bill does not mention that public servants and their collectives, that is, trade unions, have the right to engage in collective bargaining," the paper notes. Instead, it hands decisive power to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
Unlike the Labour Act, which provides for collective bargaining agreements between employers and unions, the proposed Bill places full control of pay and conditions in the hands of the PSC. Critics say this creates a fundamental conflict of interest, as the government — the employer — would unilaterally set the rules of engagement.
"The Bill should have set up a collective bargaining forum or, at the very least, a framework for its existence; instead, the opportunity was sullied," the analysis said. "There is no framework, there is no forum and there is no right."
The critique highlights that Section 19 of the existing Act, retained in the Bill, empowers the PSC to "fix and regulate" conditions of service, without providing for binding agreements, dispute resolution mechanisms, or the role of unions. "The Bill provides the appearance of constitutional compliance while ensuring that final authority remains firmly in the hands of the executive," the lawyers argued.
Labour groups echoed the concern. Amalgamated Rural Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president Obert Masaraure said the Bill exposes government's refusal to engage meaningfully with its workforce.
"Consultation is completely different from collective bargaining. We are pushing for the repeal of Section 20 of the Public Service Act and for the insertion of a section providing for a proper Collective Bargaining Council," Masaraure said.
Unions say their proposed model Public Service Act, submitted to government in 2019, sets out how a genuine bargaining structure could work. But without such reforms, they warn, the Bill risks entrenching a "broken system" where workers' voices remain sidelined.
The Public Service Amendment Bill, gazetted earlier this month, has drawn heavy criticism for undermining state workers' constitutional right to collective bargaining at a time when teachers, nurses, doctors and other public servants are already reeling from collapsing real wages and deteriorating working conditions.
An analytical paper by law firm Matika, Gwisai & Partners argues the Bill is in direct conflict with constitutional guarantees. "The Amendment Bill does not mention that public servants and their collectives, that is, trade unions, have the right to engage in collective bargaining," the paper notes. Instead, it hands decisive power to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
Unlike the Labour Act, which provides for collective bargaining agreements between employers and unions, the proposed Bill places full control of pay and conditions in the hands of the PSC. Critics say this creates a fundamental conflict of interest, as the government — the employer — would unilaterally set the rules of engagement.
"The Bill should have set up a collective bargaining forum or, at the very least, a framework for its existence; instead, the opportunity was sullied," the analysis said. "There is no framework, there is no forum and there is no right."
The critique highlights that Section 19 of the existing Act, retained in the Bill, empowers the PSC to "fix and regulate" conditions of service, without providing for binding agreements, dispute resolution mechanisms, or the role of unions. "The Bill provides the appearance of constitutional compliance while ensuring that final authority remains firmly in the hands of the executive," the lawyers argued.
Labour groups echoed the concern. Amalgamated Rural Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president Obert Masaraure said the Bill exposes government's refusal to engage meaningfully with its workforce.
"Consultation is completely different from collective bargaining. We are pushing for the repeal of Section 20 of the Public Service Act and for the insertion of a section providing for a proper Collective Bargaining Council," Masaraure said.
Unions say their proposed model Public Service Act, submitted to government in 2019, sets out how a genuine bargaining structure could work. But without such reforms, they warn, the Bill risks entrenching a "broken system" where workers' voices remain sidelined.
Source - The Independent
