By Staff Writer
CIVIL servants across the country are crying foul after receiving US$270 salaries down from US$300 on the back of the rising cost of living.
A brief survey conducted by The Humanitarian Post this week shows that most teachers received US$270 as their net salaries with some even getting much lesser.
“I was shocked to get US$270 as my net salary and if add the deducted exorbitant bank charges the amount will be much lesser. I don’t know how I am going to make ends meet considering that such cuts are coming at a time when the cost of living has spiraled beyond reach,” she said.
Another teacher who spoke to this publication said she had received a net salary of US$250 and was yet to find out what exactly had been deducted from her earnings.
With the current salary benchmarks it will be very difficult for people in the profession to put decent meals on the table let alone fund their children’s educational needs.
Rattled by the developments, the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU) this week decried the salary cuts.
“While the ZCPSTU appreciates the noble gesture by the employer to make the US$300 the salary, there is however an outcry from all public sector employees regards the new salary structure,” said ZCPSTU’s Cecilia Alexander.
“It is the workers’ experience that the deductions on the USD have left them with inadequate disposable income constituting unfair labour practice on the part of the employer. It is a trite labour principle that an employee’s salary shall not be subject to reduction for any reason.
“In the light of the above, ZCPSTU expect the employer to restore the workers’ take home to more than USD 300 without compromising the principle of USD as the salary.”
Members of the Amalgamated Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) and Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Union (FOZEU) have declared incapacitation, promising to either skip work in totality or attend and proceed on a go-slow.
“The Federation declares here and now that the government should review salaries of teachers to a minimum of USD 1 260 per month by 22 January 2024. If the government fails to play ball, all Limons affiliated to the Federation have resolved to mobilise their membership to completely withdraw their labour,” said FOZEU in a statement last week.
