Civil Servants Union engage govt on salary hike
Leaders of the Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) are meeting government representatives this Saturday, May 19, to discuss ways of addressing the enormous challenges civil servants face.
The meeting, according to CSTU Secretary General, Pontious Kalichero is slated for the capital Lilongwe which is the seat of government and high on the agenda is the issue of salary increment.
“Initially we had planned to meet the government team on Friday, May 18, but the day was shifted because that is also the day the President was opening the budget meeting at Parliament so we found it imperative to shift to the following day,” he said.
The secretary general said there were a number of items on the agenda which all lean towards finding solutions to the challenges civil servants in Malawi are experiencing.
“This is a continuation of the consultative meetings we have had been holding with the former administration of late President Bingu wa Mutharika,” he explained.
According to Kalichero, during the meeting they will also deliberate on the review of the seven percent increment civil servants they had been given.
The union has been fighting with government for a 67 percent salary increment since last year but they outcry has yielded nothing.
The CSTU had given the regime of late Mutharika a seven day ultimatum to address their salary increment issue but before the period elapsed, the president died after suffering a cardiac arrest.
A recent study revealed that Malawian civil servants are the least paid as compared to other Southern African nations.
The last circular government issued in regards to salaries revealed that the highest paid civil servants were principal secretaries whose salaries range from around K430 000 to K490 000 per month while the lowest paid who are cleaners and messengers get around K20,000.
However, the CSTU secretary said workers in the civil service have high expectations of being considered by the new administration of President Joyce Banda.
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