Public servants reject plan to slash 25,000 jobs in Zimbabwe
HARARE — Zimbabwe’s main public service union on Friday rejected a government plan to cut 25,000 jobs and suspend annual bonuses, saying it would hurt workers already struggling to make ends meet.The Apex Council, a grouping of all state sector unions, demanded talks with the government over the plan that finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has said is essential to ensure the Southern African country can keep paying its staff."We believe these measures are ill-conceived and can only further entrench the doom and gloom that has become the lot of the average civil servant," said Cecelia Alexander, head of the Apex Council which called a two-day walk-out in July by teachers, doctors and nurses over pay delays, part of the biggest strike in Zimbabwe in 10 years.In a budget statement on Thursday, Chinamasa said state-sector wages took up 97% of revenues collected between January and June, a situation that could destabilise the economy.It also meant the government risked being unable to pa...
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