Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni has described council workers’ demands for a once-off payment of outstanding salaries as unrealistic, saying the local authority has no capacity to meet the demands.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
Council workers, some who have gone for five months without pay, recently wrote to Manyenyeni threatening to down tools within two weeks if the salaries remained unpaid.
“It is unrealistic for workers to demand their arrears as a lump sum. We have been paying the arrears, but we do not have the capacity to pay the money all at once,” Manyenyeni said last week.
“As of yesterday (Tuesday) we had done the rest of January and grades 16 to 14 up to February.
“We are very serious about it, but it is important not to cripple other sectors of the council in the name of fire-fighting.”
Workers who spoke to NewsDay said the situation remained tense as there was increased mistrust between workers and union representatives.
“The unions have come under fire from the workers who are accusing them of being paid to keep quiet. That is the reason why you saw several workers besieging Town House earlier in the month,” said one worker.
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Harare Municipal Workers’ Union boss Cosmas Bungu yesterday said the strike would go ahead as their position regarding the salaries was clear.
“Council is not broke. They have a debtors’ book worth over $325 million and they should pay the workers’ outstanding salaries because they owe less than $20 million,” said Bungu.
“They have said they are collecting $14 million per month and it appears that they have the money, but on that their priorities are upside down. Some of them benefit from the situation.
“The mayor should come down hard on his management. We had suggested a transparent manner of making collections against that debtors’ book, but they refused.”
Another worker who declined to be named said if council did not budge, the strike was likely to cripple operations as it would include the people on the ground.
“It is best for the city fathers to avoid this strike because it is going to be difficult and expensive for the city to restore order,” he said. “Already the situation is bad, but workers have been soldiering on so you can imagine if everyone goes on to down tools.”
