Things Get Heated as ZIMRA Workers Declare Incapacitation
"Given the foregoing and the inadequacy of remuneration, please take notice that our members will not have the capacity to consistently report for duty" - ZIMRATU
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) workers say they are financially incapacitated and as a result, are unable to report for duty five days a week.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and Allied Workers Trade Union (ZIMRATU) has since petitioned the ZIMRA Commissioner General to craft a timetable with three days per week working slots as workers’ salaries have been eroded by inflation.
The letter by ZIMRATU president Dominic Manyangadze was also copied to the board chairperson Antony Mandiwanza.
Manyangadze said ZIMRA employees can no longer afford basic human needs like shelter, transport, food and school fees for their families. The letter reads in part:
Further frustrated by the inadequacy of the transport allowance due to continuous erosion of the value of the ZWL payment caused by the exchange rate premiums against the intended US$2 per trip, being paid to the worker by ZIMRA; thus the amount is less than half of the US$104 required to pay for transport in a month.
… Frustrated that the majority of ZIMRA workers are exposed to paying rent twice for themselves and their families due to the nature of their job; the current housing allowance being paid at the official bank rate is less than half of the official amount being demanded by landlords.
ZIMRATU said its members can only report for duty three days a week since the employer has failed to address their concerns. Said Manyangadze:
Now therefore, given the foregoing and the inadequacy of remuneration, please take notice that our members will not have the capacity to consistently report for duty and thus a request for a work arrangement which enables them to report for duty three days a week.
The workers further request that you prepare and favor them with a timetable /schedule stating the days each one is to report for duty by Friday, May 26, 2023.
Over the years, ZIMRA was considered the employer of choice as it was widely believed that the authority paid hefty salaries but the rapid depreciation of the local currency has rendered Zimbabwe dollar salaries unsustainable.
Source| Pindula
