News / National
Civil servants snub pay indaba
21 Jun 2016 at 09:24hrs | Views
THE Apex Council yesterday boycotted a meeting called by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, to discuss the change of pay dates for civil servants. The umbrella body for civil servants accused the Government of making unilateral decisions without consulting them.
The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Prisca Mupfumira called for an urgent meeting with representatives of civil servants, officials from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Ministry of Finance and Civil Service Commission (CSC), to discuss the issue of new pay dates for the Government workers, following a proposal released last Thursday to shift pay dates for this month.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Willard Manungo, on Thursday wrote to the CSC proposing new staggered pay dates for civil servants for this month.
According to the proposal, members of the Zimbabwe National Army will be paid on June 27 followed by police and prison officers on June 30. The education sector will be paid on July 7 followed by health workers and the rest of the civil service on July 14.
Pensioners will get their dues on July 19.
Apex Council president Mrs Cecilia Alexander yesterday told The Chronicle that the council, representing 12 civil servants' unions, refused to attend the meeting scheduled for 2PM in Harare yesterday.
She said they advised the Government to make a formal invitation with a clear agenda. "We resolved not to attend the meeting because we were invited informally through a telephone call and the agenda for the meeting wasn't communicated to us.
"As the Apex Council, we feel that we're an important stakeholder and we need to be respected by the Government," said Mrs Alexander. She said the Government was undermining them by calling them for a meeting when it had already made decisions.
"There's information we're reading in the media that civil servants' pay dates have been changed. We realise that the Government has already made a unilateral decision and the reason for meeting us is so we just rubber stamp the decision. We refuse to accept this.
"We've therefore called for formal communication in terms of the new development and a formal invitation for the meeting," said Mrs Alexander. She added that the government workers were disappointed by their employer's decision to shift pay dates.
"This has never happened and it comes as a big blow to the workers. They're earning salaries that are far below the Poverty Datum Line (PDL) and they're already struggling. The pension deductions that were recently introduced have made it worse. The changing of pay dates will make the workers more miserable.
"It's a very sensitive issue that the Government must handle with maximum diligence. It affects the livelihoods of millions of people," said Mrs Alexander. Mupfumira said the Apex Council snubbed the meeting on wrong assumptions, adding that she also didn't know about the new pay dates.
"On Wednesday there was a National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) meeting and that issue wasn't discussed because nobody had been informed. The Apex Council is acting on wrong assumptions. I was equally shocked when I saw the information circulating on social media.
"The information was confirmed late Friday and I quickly directed officials in my ministry to organise a meeting, of which Mrs Alexander, Minister Chinamasa, Dr Mangudya and CSC officials all agreed to attend," said Mupfumira.
She said she was surprised when they were told yesterday that the Apex Council was not accepting the invitation. "The letter from the Ministry of Finance proposing the new dates wasn't even copied to me. The ministry acknowledged the mistake and we agreed that they'll inform me in future so that we take appropriate measures.
"I called for this meeting out of concern. If I didn't care I wouldn't have called for the meeting. I'm genuine and sincere and as the Government our door is still open for dialogue." Mupfumira said the Government would give the workers another chance tomorrow.
"It was a first for such a team to be together and engage them," she said. "They agreed not to attend which is a disservice to themselves because this was an opportunity to hear from the horse's mouth the way forward. We're all affected but we needed to understand if this is going to be a normal thing or it will change. They missed that opportunity but anyway we're saying they should come on Wednesday and the same team will be ready to talk to them. The team that was present today (yesterday) agreed on improving communication between Ministries and that we should also meet regularly with the workers. If they want to come and talk to us they should come, everyone is willing and the door is open," said Mupfumira.
She conceded that the Government was facing revenue challenges due to the depressed economy but reiterated its commitment to pay its workers. She said the Government would definitely pay its workers.
The government normally pays its workforce mid-month consistently but has of late been forced to break with tradition owing to revenue challenges.
The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Prisca Mupfumira called for an urgent meeting with representatives of civil servants, officials from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Ministry of Finance and Civil Service Commission (CSC), to discuss the issue of new pay dates for the Government workers, following a proposal released last Thursday to shift pay dates for this month.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Willard Manungo, on Thursday wrote to the CSC proposing new staggered pay dates for civil servants for this month.
According to the proposal, members of the Zimbabwe National Army will be paid on June 27 followed by police and prison officers on June 30. The education sector will be paid on July 7 followed by health workers and the rest of the civil service on July 14.
Pensioners will get their dues on July 19.
Apex Council president Mrs Cecilia Alexander yesterday told The Chronicle that the council, representing 12 civil servants' unions, refused to attend the meeting scheduled for 2PM in Harare yesterday.
She said they advised the Government to make a formal invitation with a clear agenda. "We resolved not to attend the meeting because we were invited informally through a telephone call and the agenda for the meeting wasn't communicated to us.
"As the Apex Council, we feel that we're an important stakeholder and we need to be respected by the Government," said Mrs Alexander. She said the Government was undermining them by calling them for a meeting when it had already made decisions.
"There's information we're reading in the media that civil servants' pay dates have been changed. We realise that the Government has already made a unilateral decision and the reason for meeting us is so we just rubber stamp the decision. We refuse to accept this.
"We've therefore called for formal communication in terms of the new development and a formal invitation for the meeting," said Mrs Alexander. She added that the government workers were disappointed by their employer's decision to shift pay dates.
"This has never happened and it comes as a big blow to the workers. They're earning salaries that are far below the Poverty Datum Line (PDL) and they're already struggling. The pension deductions that were recently introduced have made it worse. The changing of pay dates will make the workers more miserable.
"It's a very sensitive issue that the Government must handle with maximum diligence. It affects the livelihoods of millions of people," said Mrs Alexander. Mupfumira said the Apex Council snubbed the meeting on wrong assumptions, adding that she also didn't know about the new pay dates.
"On Wednesday there was a National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) meeting and that issue wasn't discussed because nobody had been informed. The Apex Council is acting on wrong assumptions. I was equally shocked when I saw the information circulating on social media.
"The information was confirmed late Friday and I quickly directed officials in my ministry to organise a meeting, of which Mrs Alexander, Minister Chinamasa, Dr Mangudya and CSC officials all agreed to attend," said Mupfumira.
She said she was surprised when they were told yesterday that the Apex Council was not accepting the invitation. "The letter from the Ministry of Finance proposing the new dates wasn't even copied to me. The ministry acknowledged the mistake and we agreed that they'll inform me in future so that we take appropriate measures.
"I called for this meeting out of concern. If I didn't care I wouldn't have called for the meeting. I'm genuine and sincere and as the Government our door is still open for dialogue." Mupfumira said the Government would give the workers another chance tomorrow.
"It was a first for such a team to be together and engage them," she said. "They agreed not to attend which is a disservice to themselves because this was an opportunity to hear from the horse's mouth the way forward. We're all affected but we needed to understand if this is going to be a normal thing or it will change. They missed that opportunity but anyway we're saying they should come on Wednesday and the same team will be ready to talk to them. The team that was present today (yesterday) agreed on improving communication between Ministries and that we should also meet regularly with the workers. If they want to come and talk to us they should come, everyone is willing and the door is open," said Mupfumira.
She conceded that the Government was facing revenue challenges due to the depressed economy but reiterated its commitment to pay its workers. She said the Government would definitely pay its workers.
The government normally pays its workforce mid-month consistently but has of late been forced to break with tradition owing to revenue challenges.
Source - the herald
