Broke government fails to remit employee union subscriptions
HARARE – The cash-strapped Zimbabwe government is failing to remit on time the dues rightly owed to various groups and unions even after it has deducted funds from members’ salaries.
The revelation came after Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) said it is failing to carry out its obligations because government is not remitting the union’s contributions from its members.
“We hereby notify our members that government is still to pay us our union dues for the month of February,” reads the statement.
“We are facing serious challenges as we struggle to distribute diaries and calendars. A lot of our operations have been seriously affected because of this.
“Government has said it is facing serious cash flow challenges. Because of this Comrades bear with us. As usual the Apex Council is asleep.”
The government workers subscribing to Premier Service Medial Aid Society (PSMAS) are also being short-changed as it emerged that government is not remitting monthly contributions to the scheme.
Most of the civil servants are being asked to pay some shortfalls each time they go for medical attention because government is not remitting full contributions.
Civil servants make up the bulk of PSMAS membership and legislators warned that government’s failure to remit medical aid contributions was putting the lives of many people at risk.
The cash-strapped Zimbabwe government is also failing to remit money deducted from civil servants’ salaries for credit facilities, straining relations between the State and its workers.
As a result, civil servants have hit a bad patch with creditors, with some attaching the government workers’ properties and mulling legal action over unpaid dues, which government has defaulted on despite effecting deductions as reflected on their salary advice slips.
Owing to low salaries that are far below the poverty datum line, most civil servants cannot afford to buy basics such as clothing, furniture and electrical gadgets on cash and rely on credit facilities from service providers such as TV Sales and Home, Edgars and other retail outlets.
