GOVERNMENT has reportedly tabled a 15% salary increase offer to all civil servants across the board, NewsDay has learnt.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
The increment, which is expected to come into effect on July 1 this year, was tabled following negotiations between government, through its National Joint Negotiating Council and the civil servants’ representative board, the Apex Council.
Apex Council chairperson, Cecelia Alexander confirmed the development last night, said they appreciated the government’s offer, but said negotiations were still ongoing.
But teachers’ unions shot down the offer as “too little”.
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu confirmed that the meeting was still on, but said it was likely to end in a stalemate given that the government was sticking to its guns and refusing to bend to the demand by teachers.
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“I understand that the teachers are not happy with the figures that government is offering and the meeting is likely to end in a stalemate if there is no movement. We have other issues that are under negotiations like the debunching of teachers, to ensure that they are separated by qualifications and time on the job, if these things are accepted, we will then see how much this translates to in terms of take home,” he said.
Ndlovu said if the meeting ended in a deadlock, it could be bad news for the nation and it was in the interests of both teachers and the government to ensure that the negotiations yield results.
“If it ends in a stalemate, it will be disaster for the country, and as teachers, we do not want that, but we remain open to solving the challenge with dialogue. We will, however, have to go back to our members before taking any action in the event of a deadlock,” he said.
Takavafira Zhou of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe confirmed that while negotiations were ongoing, nothing substantive had been offered to the teachers and both sides remained adamant.