THE government is concerned about the welfare of civil servants and will soon convene a National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) meeting to review their salaries once consultations taking place within its structures are complete, a Cabinet Minister has said.
In an interview yesterday, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Paul Mavima said the government was already working on a framework where the ministry of Finance and Economic Development was leading consultations regarding reviews of civil servants salaries.
“So, that consultation is taking place, it might take about a week or so, but once we have that framework and clear indicators of what is possible from the government’s side, we then convene the NJNC, which will be a discussion between the representatives of the workers and the government team,” he said.
He said the situation that the concerned parties were facing were speaking loudly about the need for a salary review so that the government workers were cushioned from the rampant price increases bedevilling the economy.
Zimbabwe is grappling with soaring prices of basic commodities which has drastically eroded civil servants’ salaries which were hiked by 100 percent in March this year as the government was striving to improve the welfare of its workers.
The package included a review of the Covid-19 allowance which was increased from US$200 to US$250 while teachers were also given an additional US$80 teaching allowance. —New Ziana
