Africa-Press – Zambia. The labour movement in Muchinga Provinces has expressed concern on the new dawn government’s unexpected decision to recover the debt swap money from civil servant’s salaries.
Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) General Secretary, Makai Makai says government’s decision to recover the debt swap from civil servants is unfortunate.
Mr Makai says on September 14, 2021, the Union learnt through the press and in particular through the Zambia Daily Mail that the Government had suspended the debt swap scheme for civil servants.
“On Tuesday September 14, 2021, we leant through the press and in particular through the Zambia Daily Mail that the Government had suspended the debt swap scheme for civil servants,” Mr. Makai said.
In a statement, today, Mr Makai says the Union is not happy with the suspension because his Union , as a stakeholder and as representatives of the workers , was never consulted on the matter.
As representatives of the workers, Government should have first consulted the Union before implementing the suspension because the Union had earlier contended that the debt swap initiative is contained in the addendum to the 2021 collective agreement and it is bidding to both the Government and the Public Service Unions that signed it, he adds.
Mr. Makai argues that to date, they ( the Unions ) have not sat with the government to agree on the way forward regarding the initiative following the suspension.
The CSAWUZ General Secretary says it is surprising that the Government of the republic of Zambia has made deductions on the salaries of the civil servants in the month of October, 2021. Mr. Makai said the Union leadership does not understand if this is the resumption of the suspended debt swap scheme for civil servants or not.
Mr. Makai said the Union were not informed or consulted about the deductions which have been made through the Public Service Micro Finance Company (PSMFC) adding that to make the matters worse, not even the civil servants were so that they prepare themselves for the deductions.
The CSAWUZ General Secretary has since appealed to President Hakainde Hichilema to urgently appoint the Permanent Secretary for the Public Service Management Division (PSMD) so as to quickly look into the pending issues affecting the civil servants.
“Given that we work closely with the Public Service Management Division (PSMD) on issues concerning workers, we strongly appeal to the Republican President Hakainde Hichilema to urgently appoint the Permanent Secretary for the Public Service Management Division appointed so that the Union can be having regular consultation with them on matters regarding the workers,” he said.
Mr. Makai said the Union is finding itself in the dark on decisions made by the Government that affects the workers adding that it is important to have the Permanent Secretary for the Public Service Management Division appointed so that the Union can be having regular consultations and discussions on matters that affects the workers.
According to this month’s payslips, government has started recovering money effective October 2021 for the next 11 months from civil servants who benefited from the debt swap that was suspended last month.
The move is in a bid to recover money from the civil servants following the suspension of the debt swap initiative. In July this year Government implemented the debt swap scheme after three years of negotiations with the Public Service workers unions.
Meanwhile,the labour movement in North-western province has joined the nationwide appeal to government to rescind its decision on debt swap recovery from civil servants who had benefited.
Professional Teachers Union of Zambia (PROTUZ) provincial chairperson, Gilly Kakunta says the debt swap recovery has come as a surprise to the teachers as the unions were not consulted by government.
Mr Kakunta in an interview said that there is an outcry from the teachers as they now have double deductions on their pays slips. “The government should have sat with the union and consult with them before making such a decision” Mr Kakunta said.
He also appealed to the President to get rid of people who are misleading him on the debt swap matter. According to this month’s payslips, government has started recovering money effective October 2021 for the next 11 months from civil servants who benefited from the debt swap that was suspended last month.
The move is in a bid to recover money from the civil servants following the suspension of the debt swap initiative. In July this year Government implemented the debt swap scheme after three years of negotiations with the Public Service workers unions.
