Published by the government of Zimbabwe
14 August 2009
editorial
Harare — THE ongoing strike by junior doctors at Government hospitals, while costly for the already bleeding health sector, highlights the need for regular salary increases, not only for doctors, but the entire civil service.
While we appreciate the constraints Government is facing in paying a living wage, the State can award all civil servants continuous pay increases in proportion to the increases in tax revenue until public servants are able to earn salaries they can survive on.
As the economy grows, tax revenues will rise proportionately, and giving regular pay reviews will enable Government to gradually deal with the contentious issue of salaries.
Government should avoid handling civil servants' grievances on a sector-by-sector basis because it will be seized with the salary issue in perpetuity as teachers, nurses and other public servants will also down tools to press for an increase.
A holistic approach is ideal and the fact that Government is now paying salaries based on grades instead of the US$100 allowance across the board ensures every worker's pay eventually rises to its appropriate level.
Civil servants have commendably been patient as they went for nearly half a year getting the US$100 monthly allowance. Such patience is still required, especially at this critical stage, when the economy is beginning to show signs of recovery.
Salary demands should be reasonable and within levels obtaining in the region. Communication with the employees involved is crucial and their representatives should be consulted before any salary awards are made.
Elsewhere in this issue, we carry a story in which the chairman of the Health Services Board, Dr Lovemore Mbengeranwa, calls for incentives to health professionals. He suggests housing and car loan schemes. While this is a noble idea, it is difficult to implement given that the Government is literally broke.
He, however, has a valid point in saying the labour unrest could have been avoided had the Health Services Board been consulted on the new salary structure. Why it was not consulted is a mystery. This suggests that there are a lot of arbitrary decisions being made, which only stoke the fires of industrial unrest. If sector-specific allowances like on-call allowances are ignored, then doctors are justified in refusing to put in the extra hours.
Treasury should quickly reinstate these allowances and continue with the consultation process. We believe the Health Services Board is well placed to appreciate the grievances of health professionals and should guide Treasury in coming up with the salary structure.
Where Treasury cannot meet these demands, it should be the responsibility of the Health Services Board to explain to the health professionals the challenges being faced. The Public Service Commission should be doing the same to the rest of the civil servants.
Right now, the Government is struggling to pay reasonable salaries and it will be much more difficult for the Government to provide all the benefits commensurate with a particular civil servant's grade.
This is made the more insurmountable because the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which was assisting Government to meet its obligations through quasi-fiscal activities that saw the central bank buying cars and other necessities for the entire Government, has since stopped the practice.
But we believe that as all sectors of the economy rebound, so will be the return of such incentives as vehicle purchase schemes, which well-paid skilled workers such as doctors can make use of to buy cars.
However, doctors and civil servants are not the only workers feeling the pinch.
Most workers in the private sector and parastatals are also affected and a large number of companies has been awarding regular but modest salary increments as their earnings improve.
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