PHILLIMON MHLANGA
Captains of industry and labour were yesterday left frustrated after Finance and Economic Development minister, Mthuli Ncube and other senior government officials snubbed a meeting to deliberate on the erosion of salaries.
They told Business Times that Ncube, who is a key figure in the negotiations, was undermining the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF), which brings social partners—government, labour and business—together with the view to finding lasting solutions to address challenges facing Zimbabwe.
In a fit of rage, the disgruntled business and union leaders, were seen angrily throwing papers all over the corridor at the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) House’s 11th floor near the main boardroom, where the meeting was supposed to take place.
Critical papers thrown around, and seen by Business Times, included the agenda and some minutes of the previous meetings.
Business organisations that attended yesterday’s aborted meeting included the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce. On the labour unions side, there were representatives from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, civil servants’ representative body, the Apex Council and the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions.
Under the proposed agenda for the meeting, the TNF Technical Committee was supposed to report back on the erosion of wages and salaries, currency exchange and stabilisation and price stabilisation.
The agenda also included labour law reforms.
The flaring tempers left Labour, Public Service minister, Paul Mavima, who chairs TNF, stunned.
Mavima, who was the only government minister who came for the meeting, was then forced to cancel the meeting saying it will be rescheduled to a later date.
Labour and business unanimously agreed to petition President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the conduct of Ncube, central bank chief John Mangudya and other Cabinet Ministers, whom they said were undermining the TNF.
Mangudya was said to be out of the country on business.
There are growing fears that labour is going to strike as they believe Ncube and other government ministers were not serious about resolving the pressing issues.
Some business leaders told Business Times that they will seriously consider not attending future TNF meetings.
The last TNF meeting was held in Mutare on July 19 to 23, 2022 and was chaired by deputy chief secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet Ambassador Nicholas Kitikiti, who is also chairperson of the TNF Technical Committee.
They said what frustrates them was that a TNF meeting was called for August 4, 2022 but the meeting was called off on the eve of the meeting when some representatives coming from areas outside Harare were already in the capital.
The rescheduled meeting was again cancelled yesterday.
Business leaders and labour union leaders expressed disquiet saying the meeting was supposed to discuss contentious issues including the erosion of wages and salaries.
The labour unions told Business Times that workers have been driven to the point of desperation.
They said the systems in place established price discovery mechanisms for goods and services except labour.
This, they said, has resulted in the loss of value in salaries and pensions.
This comes as there is loss of confidence in the Zimbabwe dollar and lack of trust in the system that administers the currency, which is underpinned by suspected interference hence all economic units have adopted to using the greenback or US dollar index linked pricing.
They also said the collective bargaining platforms have been seriously undermined.
Labour unions are piling pressure on employers demanding salaries and wages pegged to the United States dollar, which they said will restore the purchasing power of the workers and contribute towards bringing back the dignity of the worker.
Organised labour is also demanding the introduction of the minimum wage which is guided by the poverty datum line underpinned by the greenback.
Labour is also pushing for a tripartite monitoring of the currency management systems and involvement in the capital markets.
They also want a TNF representative on the Exchange Rate Committee, Currency Committee and Monetary Policy Committee.
Labour also wants the RBZ to stick to its core mandate as the central bank, monetary policy management and bank supervisory role.
“The RBZ must therefore release issues to do with fiscus and market accountability to the rightful authorities and allow their space to proper guidance.
The RBZ board composition should reflect the Tripartite composition of the economic players (business, labour and government), a labour representative said yesterday.
Labour is also demanding that the National Competitiveness Commission and the Competition and Tariff Commission, should have representatives of the social partners in their structures to enhance their functioning.
On the other hand, some business representatives said not all sectors of the economy have access to the greenback and can afford to pay a portion of salaries in United States dollar.
Business is, therefore, pushing for wage negotiations, including the composition of the United States dollar and the Zimbabwe dollar, to be done at the National Employment Council and not at TNF level.
They said having a blanket approach might result in viability challenges for some businesses.
Business is also of the view that the current status quo has failed as the local currency has continued to depreciate.
They said the Willing Buyer Willing Seller platform was not a true willing buyer willing seller platform, due to a number of restrictions including how much one can buy.They say there was an inability of those with FCA balances to respond to signals from those looking for US dollars through the Willing Buyer Willing Seller route owing to restrictions on who qualifies and the amount of forex that can be either bought or sold.
Business leaders are also pushing for high bids to be settled in full without being pro-rated, a move which is currently accommodating low bidders and suppressing the exchange rate.
They also said all winning bids should be settled within two days from the date of the auction (T+2) and there should be a zero tolerance on backlog.
The government, on the other hand, said it was taking measures to stabilise the economic environment, through ensuring that all sources of money supply which fuel inflationary pressures are prudently managed.
Recently, the government tightened screws on payments to contractors and other service providers to the government in line with periodic money supply growth targets.
The government is also pushing for tightening procurement rules by managing the forward pricing practices which is also fuelling the parallel market.
