Unions demand commitment on low income servants
Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) and Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) have asked government to make a formal written commitment on increasing with much higher percentage to lower grade civil servants.
In a letter Ref.No.OPC/CSTU/Conf/04 to the Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), copied to chairperson of the Government Negotiating Team (GNT) and the secretary for Department of Human Resource Management, the unions say this is because the current salary increment has “clearly favoured upper grades.”
“We look forward to your favourable consideration of this request as it will be an instrument used in trying to ease the dissatisfaction of the lower grades work force,” reads part of the letter signed by CSTU general secretary Madalitso Njolomole and TUM general secretary Denis Kalekeni.
When contacted on Wednesday, Chief Secretary George Mkondiwa said he had not yet received the letter.
Government gave in to the two unions’ demand by raising civil servants salaries by an average of 45 percent after CSTU and TUM started to push for a raise in the wage bill to K170 billion (about $369m) after learning that government set aside K163.3 billion.
According to Kalekeni, the majority of teachers have been offered the lowest percent as, for instance, a primary school teacher at Grade L has been given 35 percent with Grade K getting 37 percent.
He said if those that have received the lowest are combined, they form 75 percent of the entire teaching service in the country and the increment does not mean anything to them “because it has addressed just a few”.
