RAYMOND MAJONGWE . . . Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe secretary general

HARARE – A crippling general strike by Zimbabwe’s public workers inched closer on Tuesday after wage negotiations between the government and union leaders ended in deadlock yesterday.

Union leaders speaking after talks flopped indicated they were gearing for a strike whose dates are set to be announced at a mass rally of all government workers in Harare next Friday.

The strike that is expected to shutdown public schools, hospitals, courts and other official departments will be a major test for the power-sharing government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, two long-time foes who came together last year to end a long-running political crisis.

Officials from the government’s Public Service Commission (PSC) met with representatives from the Public Service Association, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA), Zimbabwe Teachers Union and the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) but the parties failed to reach agreement after nearly five hours of haggling over new salaries and improved working conditions.

The PSC that employees all government workers apparently offered an additional US$4 million to the US$50 million budgeted for public servants’ salaries but this was turned down by union representatives.

“The employer re-stated the same position that it has no money but tabled a long term road map that will have seen a quarterly review of salaries. The employer proposed a new increment in April but we rejected the offer as it was still going to be insignificant,” said Richard Gundani, the secretary general of ZIMTA.

“The addition of US$4 million to the wage bill was too insignificant. So we will be calling a joint-mother of all rallies of civil servants on what plan of action we intend taking,” said Gundani.

PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe accused the government of not being serious in addressing civil servants’ salary grievances and warned that a public strike was imminent.

“The government should brace for industrial action now,” he said.

Government workers surviving on an average monthly salary of US$160 want the government to salaries to a minimum wage of $630.

But the government, which is already using 60 percent of total collected revenues on salaries, says it does not have money to fund any significant wage hikes.

If the threatened strike goes ahead, it would be the first against the coalition government since it came into office last February.

Since the formation of the unity government, teachers had returned to work while state hospitals were admitting patients again as nurses and junior doctors resumed their duties.

But failure by the unity government to convince major Western nations to provide direct financial support could see basic services such as health and education collapse again as civil servants strike or, as before, resume the exodus to foreign countries where wages and livings conditions are better. – ZimOnline