In their feedback meetings, the APEX Councils as duly constituted mandated their teams of negotiators to stick to the following position;
Civil servants are not asking for a salary increment but rather restoration of the value of their earnings which fell from at least USD475.00 to a mere USD47.00 currently for the lowest paid civil servant.
In arriving at the figure for the cost a living adjustment, the inter-bank rate must apply, benchmarked against the pre-October 2018 average USD475.00 salary for the lowest paid civil servant. This will therefore mean the lowest paid worker should earn Z$4750.00 to restore the value of their earning.
The negotiation process be informed by the resolutions of the meetings between His Excellency E. D Mnangagwa and the two Apex Councils where the above situation was communicated and acknowledged by all parties, including Minister of Finance.
The current reforms announced by the Minister of Finance that saw the abandonment of the multi-currency regime should not erode the purchasing value of salaries which should remain at USD 475.00 of the lowest paid Civil Servant premised on the inter-bank rate.
The two Apex councils hereby reiterate that the current salaries of at least USD40.00 (Inter-bank) have resulted in the incapacitation of workers and that the failure by Government to restore the value of salaries will leave the two Apex Councils with no choice but to declare incapacitation.
The two Apex Councils note with great concern that Government is not placing importance on worker issues as evidenced by their unnecessary postponements, cancellation on NINC meetings.
The two Apex Councils are concerned with the Minister of Finance’s propensity to make pronouncements that ordinarily should be made by the Public Service Minister which in essence undermines statutory social dialogue framework.
This write up, therefore, informs the powers that be from now 16 July 2019 all Civil Servants are severely incapacitated to report for duty.
Source: Health Apex Council