NOT only can most businesses not afford to pay salaries in foreign currency, but doing so would also aid the unwelcome re-dollarisation of the economy.
So say under pressure captains of industry and commerce as trade unions agitate for forex salaries for workers, as the cost of living in the country continues to distress the poor. Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, the president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), Kurai Matsheza, said not all companies could afford to pay their workers in United States dollars.
“For industry to say we are now completely paying salaries in foreign currency will be a difficult situation for us. “There are some companies that are able to pay in foreign currency, whilst on the other hand there are many companies that might find it difficult to pay their workers in US dollars. “It will also be very costly for companies to adopt that mode of payment,” Matsheza told the Daily News.
He added that this was also so because the country did not have enough foreign currency, making it difficult for most employers to pay their employees in US dollars only. “Remember, we don’t print US dollars here in Zimbabwe.
The foreign currency that we have is from export earnings. “We don’t have enough foreign currency reserves to sustainably say we are now paying workers in foreign currency only. “So, for industry to say it is able to pay salaries in US dollars only would be difficult for us,” Matsheza added.
On his part, the chief executive of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Christopher Mugaga said labour unions and companies should smoke a peace pipe on the matter, as the economic environment was not favourable for companies to make foreign currency salary payments.
“When we meet with labour, we must find consensus on the reality that we cannot afford to pay a US dollar wage because the costs will negatively affect business. “Labour should also stop demanding US dollar salaries because the market is now informal.
“If you start demanding US dollar wages, what about those who are unemployed and how are they going to make a living? “Labour currently represents only a few people in the country, as the majority are in the informal sector and others are not employed at all. “We must share these views that l am telling you in all our mutual interests,” Mugaga further told the Daily News.
All this comes as labour unions representing both private and public sector workers are pushing for an urgent meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa. It also comes as the country’s economic challenges continue to mount, amid a prices spiral and shortages of some basic goods — both mostly blamed on the worsening volatility of the Zimbabwe dollar.
The secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), Japhet Moyo, confirmed to the Daily News recently that the union confederation wanted to meet Mnangagwa over the country’s deepening economic crisis.
“We are pushing to have a meeting with the president because it seems other government officials are failing to address our concerns. “We wrote to the President requesting to meet with him and we are waiting for his response.
“We told him that it seems that ministers are not putting urgency to the issues that workers are raising. Their salaries are being eroded by the current price hikes. “We don’t think that there are enough interventions from the authorities. The situation is worsening and workers are suffering,” Moyo told the Daily News then.
“The only way forward now is for the highest office to intervene. We also hope that the responsible authorities will call for an urgent Tripartite Negotiation Forum (TNF),” he added.
The TNF comprises government, business and labour. Moyo bemoaned the growing demand by many retailers to be paid in US dollars only, a move which he said had left most employees unable to purchase products in shops.
“While the economy has effectively dollarised in terms of expenditures, with more than 70 percent of total spending being denominated in US dollars, most workers continue to earn their incomes in Zim dollars.
“There has been a massive erosion of incomes, with workers being disproportionately affected, while the proportion of the working poor has increased markedly. “The biggest challenge with reforms in Zimbabwe is that they are being implemented top down. This has plunged the economy into the abyss.
“The populace is suffering as a result of wrong-headed policies that have resulted in the loss of value of our currency, fiscal indiscipline, run-away inflation and corruption. “We reiterate our demand that all workers be paid in US dollars until such a time the economy stabilises,” Moyo further told the Daily News. The secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU), David Dzatsunga, said civil servants were also fighting to meet with Mnangagwa over the worsening economic situation.
“We have had inconclusive talks with the government. In the meantime, inflation has grown to alarming levels. “We have written to the minister of Labour (Paul Mavima) requesting for an urgent meeting to avert the crisis.
“In our last meeting (last month), we agreed as civil servants that there is a need to write to the President requesting to meet with him over the current economic challenges we are facing as workers. “We want to do it in a procedural manner where we write to the minister and escalate it to the president,” Dzatsunga said.
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