The Apex Council brings together civil servants unions for salary negotiations with government – but it has been rocked by leadership wrangles following elections held in August that saw College Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe president David Dzatsunga elected as chairperson.
The Public Service Association boycotted the elections, saying they were unconstitutional and has since then refused to endorse the Apex Council leadership. There are allegations among teachers’ unions loyal to the current leadership that the PSA, itself a member of the Council, is running a parallel structure and has approached government as a separate entity over salary negotiations.
On top of this, civil servants’ unions that fall within the Council have blamed the PSA for being power hungry and turning a blind eye to their plight.
Another school of thought believes government has used the power wrangles at the Council to avoid meaningful negotiations taking place – with Minister of Public Service Lucia Matibenga being accused of siding with the PSA so that civil servants remain divided.
She is on record saying civil servants should put their house in order first before they can engage government on salary negotiations.
The lowest paid government worker currently earns $396, when the poverty datum line is pegged at around $600. In January, plans for a group of negotiators to engage government over salary hikes hit a snag after the PSA distanced itself from the plan and wrote a letter to Matibenga dismissing the negotiating team. The minister replied, requesting the Council to reconstitute itself first before any meaningful engagement could take place.
Dzatsunga said power struggles had shifted the focus from the need to unite in demanding better salaries and working conditions, adding that government intervention into the dispute had worsened the situation.
“It has been difficult to mobilise workers for action because we are now acting as individual unions rather than coming together as a united force to confront our collective problems. But we are of the view that there is no reason for government intervention. If there are disputes, they should be solved among the civil servants and government should not be intervening,” said Dzatsunga.
PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe said PSA President Cecilia Alexander seemed to be getting political backing in her bid to dismantle the current Council leadership, hence the continued bickering at the negotiating body.
“There are certain people who would like Alexander to chair the Council because they seem to be uncomfortable with the current leadership. We do not know whether this could be because of her political affiliation or for some other reason.
The message from government seems to be that unless Alexander becomes the Chairperson nothing is going to change,” said Majongwe. He also highlighted the lack of political will on the part of government to negotiate with civil servants over salary increments. “There is no political will to address the problem. It’s not about Apex but lack of political will,” he said.
ZIMTA Chairperson Tendai Chikowore admitted that power wrangles at the Council had demoralized most civil servants, who have given up hope of better salaries. “We no longer understand whether this is about individuals or civil servants. People are fighting for power but as ZIMTA, what we want is for people to sit down and iron out their differences so that civil servants’ concerns can be addressed.
“As far as we are concerned, we are not very much worried about who leads the Council. Our position is that they should have the interests of the workers at heart,” said Chikowore. TUZ Secretary General, Ottoman Magaya accused the PSA of being after power at the expense of workers concerns: “The PSA issue is about power. We have to be very skeptical about their behaviour and it seems they are conniving with certain political forces. It is very clear they are after power.”
The PSA Deputy Executive Secretary, Jeremiah Bvirindi was evasive when asked to comment on the power wrangles at the Apex Council and he suddenly switched off his mobile phone.
However, PSA Executive Secretary, Emmanuel Tichareva, told The Zimbabwean earlier this year that the PSA was proposing that the fight for leadership positions at the Apex Council be resolved through a mediator.
Post published in: News