By Staff Reporter
HARARE – Talks between the Zanu PF government and civil service unions on Wednesday ended in a deadlock after union representatives rejected the ‘paltry’ $79 increment offered by the government.
Manuel Nyawo the secretary of the Apex Council, an umbrella body representing civil servants’ unions, said they were very disappointed because they had high expectations since the government had taken “long to give us an increment, and we thought they had something, but all they had was an offer close to nothing.”
“We immediately rejected their offer of a paltry increment which is close to nothing considering that we have gone close to two years without a sound increment. Therefore, we put the government to task to revisit the offer and come back on Friday with a better and acceptable offer,” he said.
The $79 increment would have seen the lowest paid civil servant getting a basic salary of $375 when the Poverty Datum Line (PDL) is pegged at $500. During campaigns for the July 31 elections President Mugabe promised to improve the salaries of civil servants, something he has so far failed to do.
