HARARE – Teachers’ unions have taken the government to court over the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) unilateral salary system, which they argue deprives them of their right to form part of the bargaining process.
The unions that have collectively sued the government over low wages and working conditions are ZIMTA, PTUZ and ARTUZ.
The Public Service Commission established the National Joint Negotiating Council through the Public Service Act (NJNC) with the responsibility of determining teacher salaries and working conditions.
Unions, on the other hand, argued in a High Court application filed December 6 by their lawyers Matika, Gwisai, and partners that the salary determining system violated teachers’ constitutional rights, which entailed they were party to the collective bargaining process with government over salaries and working conditions.
“Section 19(1) of the Public Service Act [Chapter 16:04] which gives the Public Service Commission and the Minister of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare the authority to unilaterally determine conditions of service of members of the Public Service without going through the collective bargaining process is unconstitutional as it is inconsistent with section 203(1) (b) as read with section 65(5) of the Constitution.
“Section 31 (1) of the Public Service Act is unconstitutional for being inconsistent with section 203(1)(b) of the Constitution in so far as it gives the Public Service Commission and the Minister of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare the power to regulate conditions of service of members of the Public Service without recourse to collective bargaining.
“The Public Service (Public Service Joint Negotiating Council) Regulations, SI 141/1997 is unconstitutional in so far as Section 3 (1) confers on the Joint Council the power to negotiate salaries, allowances and conditions for members of the Public Service whereas such power lies with the Public Service Commission under section 203(1)(b) of the Constitution and subject to the provisions on collective bargaining under s 65 (5) of the Constitution; and The agreements reached at the Joint Council under section 4(f) do not constitute valid collective bargaining agreements as they are mere recommendations to the Minister for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare,” argued the unions.
The unions said the objective of the NJNC was to engage in mutual consultations, negotiate salaries, allowances and conditions of service of civil servants.
Teachers have arguably been the most vocal civil servants over poor wages and working conditions since 2018, when the local currency began to fall precipitously as a result of inflation.
The government has tried to sugar-coat the impasse through offering benefits that fall short of the disgruntled educators’ demands for their salaries to be restored to pre-October 2018 levels of a minimum US$540 per month.
Earlier in February, President Emmerson Mnangagwa agreed to gradually restore the wage, a promise he has not yet fulfilled amid growing dissatisfaction within the country’s restive public workforce.
