UNDERFIRE Public Service Minister, Lucia Matibenga has defended her handling of the strike by state workers after political rivals called for her resignation accusing her of undermining government operations by failing to stem the job action.
Matibenga infuriated union leaders when she allegedly snubbed a meeting with them last week resulting in civil servants calling a one-day strike last Thursday and another five-day stay away this week to press for a salary increase.
"She (Matibenga) didn't come (for the meeting) … She betrayed our trust. She was new in the office and we agreed to give her the few days she asked for, but now she has snubbed us," Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) chief, Tendai Chikowore said after last Monday’s abortive meeting.
Manuel Nyawo, CEO of the Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ) added: "We sat for four hours without seeing anyone and this has never happened in the history of negotiations.”
But in a statement released through her MDC-T party on Wednesday, Matibenga said it was not her duty to negotiate with government employees.
“As Minister of Public Service, my position is to make policy and not to negotiate with workers,” she said.
“The employer of government workers is the Public Service Commission and not the Ministry of Public Service (and yet) the propaganda around the issue of civil servants’ salaries has sought to make me the face of the problem.”
Civil servants are demanding across-the-board pay increases from $200 to $538 a month for the lowest-paid government workers as well as medical insurance and an allowance for workers based in rural areas.
Union leaders said Tuesday the strike would be suspended for one day to give negotiations a chance after the government pledged to make them an offer during talks scheduled for Wednesday.
The coalition government has all along insisted it does not have the resources to meet its workers’ demands and Matibenga said it was unfair to blame her for what was in fact a collective cabinet position.
“I spent decades as a trade unionist and fully understand the plight of civil servants,” she said.
“It is the height of dishonesty to portray the Public Service Minister as the face of the problem when the real key issues about civil servants’ salaries include the opaque nature of diamond revenue and the implementation of the public service audit which found, among other irregularities, 75 000 irregularly employed workers.”
She hoped an “amicable solution” that would help “alleviate the plight” of state workers would be found at Wednesday’s meeting with union leaders where the government is expected to table its offer.
But union leaders warned that the strike would continue unless the government makes a “substantive” offer.
"We advise Government to come to the table with a meaningful offer. Our decision to suspend the strike must not be construed as a weakness, but it is only that we want to negotiate in good faith," said Chikowore, who also heads the umbrella body for the unions.
"Our next course of action will be announced (on Wednesday) and shall be influenced by the results of the negotiations."