HARARE – Public sector workers on Tuesday rejected an offer of a 20 percent salary increment that would have seen the highest paid worker getting Z$16,430 (US$201) per month.

The disgruntled civil servants have been demanding a salary hike to match the rate of inflation and cushion them against the harsh economic environment, with teachers demanding at least US$520, but government has shot down demands for United States dollar-based salaries.

The government last month offered its restive workers a 40 percent hike and converted the US$75 Covid-19 allowance introduced in June this year to be part of their monthly salary, but civil servants insist that the increase is not enough given the country’s hyperinflationary environment.

The Apex Council, the umbrella body for public sector unions, said the meeting with government representatives had ended in a stalemate.

The Apex Council said it would now consult its members on the way forward.

Apex Council spokesman David Dzatsunga declined to give details of the meeting, referring journalists to a statement issued after the deliberations.

Part of the statement read: “The much-awaited National Joint Negotiating Council meeting where the government was expected to feedback and move significantly on the cost of living adjustment for civil servants has been finally held on November 3, 2020.

“In the previous meeting, the government had made an offer of 40 percent of the total package and today increased it by a further 20 percent of the current earnings of an individual. This new offer is to be with effect from November 1, 2020.”

The workers, who are earning way below the poverty datum line, rejected the offer saying it did not address their incapacitation.

“The workers side flatly rejected the offer for falling short of addressing the incapacitation of civil servants. However, the workers’ side asked for an adjournment to Wednesday for a feedback to its full council and its constituency on the way forward (concerning) the said offer and expects to meet the government this week for workers’ position,” the statement further read.

The new offer would see B1 workers getting $13,590, C5 earning $14,105, D1 getting $15,077 (US$184), while E1, would be the highest paid workers, who are earning $16,430.

Workers in grade D, which includes teachers, have been awarded a special Covid-19 allowance of 10 percent of basic salary that translates to $517.

The government has been trying to address the plight of its workers to avert strikes, but all its offers so far have not satisfied the restive civil servants.

Teachers said they remained incapacitated.

Teachers walked out in September ahead of the reopening of schools for examination classes.

Schools reopened for another batch of students on Monday last week, amid reports that most schools were being manned by heads and senior masters as the majority of teachers stayed away citing incapacitation.

The prolonged teachers’ strike, which saw the teacher unions issuing joint statements, is, however, under threat after the country’s largest teachers’ union, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta), broke ranks and met President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday last week, where they agreed to lower their pay demands to a minimum US$320 down from US$520.

However, Zimta has hit back at its counterparts, describing the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) as failures in representing teachers’ grievances during negotiations.

The teachers’ unions had made a joint request to meet Mnangagwa over teachers’ remuneration, but Zimta reportedly secretly met Mnangagwa.

In a statement, Zimta reaffirmed its commitment to serve the interests of the teachers, describing Artuz and the PTUZ as “briefcase teachers’ unions-cum-political parties whose main agenda was to drag Zimta’s name into the mud”.

Teachers unions remain divided on the way forward amid accusations and counter-accusations of selling out. – NewsDay