HARARE – Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) employees have written to their employer asking for their workdays to be reduced to just three per week so they could use the remainder to perform some “side hustles” to supplement their poor wages.

Through their representative Zimbabwe Revenue and Allied Workers Trade Union (ZIMRATU) complained their wages have depreciated in value by 397 percent between January and December last year.

In a letter to ZIMRA Commissioner General, copied to ZIMRA board chair Antony Mandiwanza, ZIMRATU president Dominic Manyangadze said members now survive on borrowing to supplement their wages.

Manyangadze said fuel prices were now pegged in US dollars while the continued price surge in the country has eroded members’ wages.

The union leader said ZIMRA workers were further disheartened by that they were at the centre of the country’s revenue collection systems, and in many instances, gathering inflation adjusted revenue, but the employer has failed to appreciate their own needs.

He said they were discouraged that the tax collector has failed to yield calls for a wage review to meet their needs.

For the above reasons, Manyangadze said, “the ZIMRA workers have declared that they are incapacitated and thus, they will not be able to fully engage with the employer’s business on a daily basis to enable them to supplement their incomes to cover rentals required in forex by landlords and school fees required in forex at schools including government schools.

“Now therefore given the foregoing and the inadequacy of ZIMRA employees’ remuneration against the current economic environment, please take notice that our members will not have the capacity to consistently report for duty and thus request for a work arrangement which enables them to report for duty three days a week.”

The union said all the tax collector’s workstations are unhappy with wages which have reduced to a US dollar equivalent of US$45.

ZIMRATU described this as wage theft which flew against their General Living Allowance (GLA) United States Dollars component.

Added the union, “All Trade Union Chairpersons are advised to get in touch with secretariat as quickly as possible.

“The union leadership is now working on the due processes required at law and will keep the workers updated.”