By Dr Takavafira Zhou
You dont need to be a rocket scientist to note the dangerous romance between Apex Council and employer PSC. In November 2020 Apex Council and PSC claimed they would have produced a roadmap to US$520-US$550 by 31 January 2021. We are now almost in mid-February and nothing has materialised.
In the meantime the starvation wages that Apex agreed to when they refused to refer the impasse over salaries for arbitration have further been eroded by increases in fuel, transport costs, rentals, utility bills, basic commodities and dolarisation of the economy with gvt blessing. The urgency of paying civil servants in US$ is now.
Yet, as usual Apex went into deep slumber after 2020 romance with gvt. What else can civil servants in general and teachers in particular expect from Apex Council whose term of office has long expired but whose leaders’ hands are not only greased by emoluments from gvt parastatal posts but have transformed themselves into Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Service Trade Unions without federations and with PSC blessing?
These are captured individuals masquerading as representatives of civil servants. Not surprisingly, they have been missing in action since the beginning of the year only to recently announce a facade of urgency when it is clear they want to ratify GEMS and pull cotton on the public eye over the PSC failure to come up with a road map to restore the purchasing power parity of civil servants’ salaries by end of January. They are certainly preparing for firefighting on behalf of the employer. They may as well be getting ready to be used by the gvt to open schools prematurely without addressing teachers’ welfare and prioritising teachers and pupils’ health and safety. Our greatest appeal to these closeted comrades is to be considerate in their romance escapades. We also appeal to the gvt to consult widely and engage all leaders of teacher trade unions before rushing to open schools, so that we can collectively chat a palatable way forward. It is also prudent to address the issue of welfare, health and safety of teachers before contemplating opening of schools. The country would benefit from engagement and pragmatic social dialogue that can surely lead to industrial harmony and productivity, than the current cherry picking of individuals without broad mandate to masquerade as civil servant representatives. It is prudent to pay teachers a living wage as a matter of urgency, so that they start to prepare rigorously for 2021 opening of schools which in our view should be next term after 2020 ‘O’ and ‘A’ level results are processed. The 2021 academic year should just be divided into two school terms.
Our message to teachers is that our real enemies are those who masquerade as representatives of teachers in particular, when in reality they are self appointed egocentricists pushed by their stomachs. As we rigorously prepare for the eventual opening of schools, we must mobilise to ensure that the masquerades in Apex Council do not betray our dispute of right with the employer. As usual the culprits will start their romance escapades speaking our language of restoration of salaries of teachers’ purchasing power parity, but along the countless romance meetings with PSC would betray our stand point. Teachers matter and must be paid a living wage. At a time when other sectors are rewarded heavy perks backdated to January 2020, it is painful for a teacher to ponder how his/her own children would access the services he/she offers when schools would open.
Venceremos
Dr Takavafira M. Zhou (Ptuz President)
Comments
About Author
