Trade unions have urged the private sector to follow the government and pay a portion of their workers’ salaries in United States dollars to cushion them from hyperinflation which is eroding incomes.
Speaking in an interview with New Ziana on Monday, Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) secretary general Kennias Shamuyarira said:
The government has shown that paying salaries in United States dollars is attainable, what is left is for business to follow suit.
Some of the salaries that are being negotiated by the National Employment Councils (NECs) are unbelievable and these will be in the local currency for that matter.
And yet we know that businesses are oversubscribed with United States dollars.
He said business must stop blaming the government for the economic challenges afflicting the country but complement it in its efforts to attain an upper-middle-income economy by 2030. Said Shamuyarira:
It’s no longer time for the blame game, let us walk the talk. Employers should start empowering their workers by ensuring that their salaries have a store of value.
At the moment they are paying workers in RTGS knowing very well that they will still need to convert it to US dollars.
Starting this year, the government converted civil servants’ COVID-19 USD cushioning allowance into pensionable salary.
The move was condemned by some unions representing civil servants as the allowance is now being taxed which means government workers’ earnings have been eroded by taxes.
Local businesses are selling most of their products exclusively in foreign currency, particularly the United States dollars, but they have continued to pay workers in the local currency.
