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Clear salaries arrears: Harare councillors

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HARARE city fathers yesterday ordered management to pay outstanding salaries to workers who have gone for five months without pay warning action will be taken against them if they fail to act.

HARARE city fathers yesterday ordered management to pay outstanding salaries to workers who have gone for five months without pay warning action will be taken against them if they fail to act.

BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA/MOSES MATENGA

Council’s has been struggling to pay salaries to its workers for nearly two years despite several measures being implemented, including retrenchments and slashing of salaries.

Council human resources committee chairperson Wellington Chikombo said they had given management an ultimatum to settle the salaries issue which has forced some workers to embark on industrial action.

“We engaged management over the issue and we told them to shape up or ship out,” Chikombo said.

He could not, however, specify what action would be taken if they failed to meet the ultimatum.

Harare workers have gone on strike over outstanding salaries.

Several local authorities have also been gripped by similar strikes that were likely to cripple service delivery in already struggling cities and towns.

Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo was not immediately available for comment as he was reportedly out of the country.

Meanwhile, Harare council workers this week blasted their workers’ committee members for failing to adequately represent them.

Harare workers are represented by Harare Municipal Workers’ Union, Zimbabwe Urban Councils Workers’ Union and Water and Allied Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe.

“We have had enough of these negotiations. Workers’ committee representatives appear to be singing the same tune with management. We are expected to report for duty every day when we have not been paid for five months,” said one of the workers.

“It is shocking really that these three unions are failing to get council to pay us.”

City spokesperson Michael Chideme said council had started paying arrears.