Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Southern African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) has called for an evaluation of the government imposed wage freeze to ascertain its impact on the civil service.
SACCORD’s call comes in the wake of increased demands by the labour movement unions for the wage freeze to be lifted owing to the current economic conditions in the country factored by hikes in electricity tariffs, increased fuel prices and high prices of food commodities.
SACCORD Executive Director Boniface Cheembe says the evaluation of the wage freeze should also be used to establish what government has achieved so far with this 2-years freeze which extends to 2015.
Mr. Cheembe has told Qfm News in an interview that it is important that people in the country are made to understand as to whether the wage freeze is achieving its objectives and whether there have been some benefits that have been accrued thus far.
He says his organization is further of the view that when the civil service is called upon to sacrifice in the manner government has done by imposing a wage freeze, there is need to ensure that this sacrifice is not only for one group of public service workers but should be inclusive of senior government official and leaders.
Mr Cheembe notes that this means that while government imposes such a wage freeze, there should be no increment of salaries for Members of Parliament as well.
He says this is the only way his organization thinks that such decisions by government will not be seen to a target a particular class of public service workers.