Harare (New Ziana)-The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) on Thursday urged the private sector to emulate the government by paying bonuses to workers.
The government started paying its workers the USD 13th cheque this week with the security and health sectors being the first to receive their pay outs.
The rest of the civil service will be paid next week.
In a statement, ZCTU acting secretary general Runesu Dzimiri said employers from the private sector should also pay bonuses as a way to motivate their workers.
“The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has noted the government initiative to pay bonuses in United States Dollars (USD) to cushion the suffering civil servants and call upon all other employers to follow suit.
“In the same vein, we are calling upon all employers, including those in the private sector, to emulate the government by incentivizing their employees by giving them a well – deserved bonus after a year of hard work. Every year most workers look forward to the 13th cheque as a goodwill gesture by employers to motivate them to work hard. Indeed, in some companies, the 13th cheque is part and parcel of an employment contract,” he said.
The ZCTU said employers should also be moving to pay workers in United States dollars.
“The Zimbabwean economy has dollarized; all goods and services are now indeed to the USD and we continue to sink our heads in the sand and pretend otherwise while salaries remain depressed. It is our demand that if goods and services are indexed to the USD the same must apply to wages and salaries because labour is a service,” said Dzimiri.
New Ziana
