Zimbabwe's civil servants threaten to go on strike

2011-01-14 09:18:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

HARARE (BNO NEWS) - Civil servants on Thursday threatened to go on strike if Zimbabwe's government doesn't offer a substantial pay hike, the local NewsDay newspaper reported.

The government has received a seven-day ultimatum from workers after a 24 percent salary increment was immediately rejected by unions.

According to the figures revealed to NewsDay, with this increment the lowest paid teacher would earn $241, inclusive of housing and transport allowances, up from $193.

The Apex Council, composed of civil servants and teachers associations, is demanding an initial salary of $502 for the lowest paid government worker.

"We have rejected the government offer and the rationale behind the rejection is that the government did not take into cognisance the position paper presented by the workers. We wanted $502 for the lowest paid worker, but what we got was not even half of our demands equal to or the poverty datum line (PDL), (which is about $500)," Apex chairperson Tendai Chikowore said, as reported by the newspaper.

Last year, there was an open-ended strike by civil servants that ended after the government promised a significant salary increase this year.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-01-14

If it were Thailand instead of Zimbabwe would anybody notice the difference?