Zimbabwe: August Salary Negotiations After Holiday, Says NEC

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 6 August 2008 08/07/2008

THE majority of National Employment Councils will start salary negotiations for this month after the Heroes holiday. NEC Tobacco and NEC Insurance said they will negotiate their August salaries and wages after the holidays although they could not give the minimum wage they were starting with. An official at NEC Motor Industry said upholding wage demands is difficult especially in an environment with high inflationary pressures. Independent human resources consultant Ms Tambudzai Nyika said collective bargaining has turned difficult because productivity was currently low as business was struggling in the current high inflation. Mr Peter Kipps of Kipps Employment Agency said with the high inflation rate most businesses were failing to keep up with inflation and any demands on wage hikes are likely to weigh against the business. An official with Cooks Employment Agency said any negotiations for wages were mainly dependant on what the company was obtaining at that particular moment and even though bargaining was done at National Employment Council level it was left between the employer and employee. "There has to be an agreement reached by both parties and what the company is producing and other expenses being catered for by the company. Employers can give workers what they are producing at their organisations as incentives to increase the wages," said the official. Ms Nyika said in the current environment speculation was crowding out production as entrepreneurship and other resources were being devoted to speculation in existing assets such as real estate, and less to the expansion of production and employment. She noted that even if an employee puts in 101 percent effort in production, very few people are coming for services in the marketing or advertising departments. She added that issues to do with productivity had to be addressed first and foremost. "Productivity is a necessary condition for competitiveness as well as a prime determinant of the standard of living of people in general. "That productivity will in turn determine stable employee wages," said Nyika. Enditem