Government has called for peaceful negotiations with leaders of the APEX council to salvage a potentially fragile relationship with civil servants over a looming strike over non-payment of 2016 bonuses.
In a statement released on Sunday, Minister of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare Prisca Mupfumira said government was riled by the decision to down tools by the government workers, calling for civil servants to return to work and abort the planned strike.
“I would like to express Government’s displeasure over the statement issued by the Apex Council calling for a civil servants sit-in on Monday 6 March 2017. This comes at a time when negotiations on the bonus issue are set to resume on the same day.
“All parties are expected to negotiate in good faith without blackmailing each other,” said Mupfumira
She said Government is doing everything possible to pay bonuses against a background of resource constraints.
“Let me therefore call upon civil servants to report for work as usual while their concerns are being addressed. Government would like to assure the nation that service delivery will continue without any disruptions.
“Let me finally urge union leaders to exhaust negotiating channels and follow the legal procedures before embarking on any kind of industrial action,” said Mupfumira.
Civil servants have called for a strike on the back end of another strike last week by doctors and nurses over non-payment of their bonuses.
