By IPS Correspondents
LUSAKA, Aug 15 2003 (IPS)

Like dominos, sectors of the Zambian public workers have gone on strike one after the other, since March, costing the government over 10 million U.S. dollars a week in revenue collection.

Revenue collection departments like Zambia Revenue Authority lost two million U.S. dollars a day, when its workers went on strike last month. The Road Traffic Commission lost about 20,500 U.S. dollars during the three-day strike this week. These are only two out of the ten such departments that collect levies. Government is also losing about 1.03 million U.S. dollars a week in man-hours during the pickets.

Zambia’s 120,000 civil servants are demanding wage increments and housing allowances as agreed and budgeted for in the 2003 conditions of service. After protracted negotiations with union leaders in April, when the Zambia Congress of trade Union (ZCTU) threatened indefinite strikes, government agreed to 123 U.S. dollars for the lowest and 220 U.S. dollars to the highest paid worker.

The ZCTU had demanded for a 300-U.S.-dollar raise across the board. Housing allowances were also to be paid backdated to April last year. Currently, the average public sector salary is about 60 U.S. dollars a month.

But government has been forced to renege on the pay agreement when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanded that it tackle a projected budget overrun of about 124 million U.S. dollars and withheld over 100 million U.S. dollars in aid. Government insists that wage increments and worker’s perks caused the over run on the budget. When cornered by the striking judicial workers, it paid out half of the housing allowances for a few workers and begged for more time from the trade unions. But patience has run out.

In the latest round of pickets, public sector workers on Aug. 11 began a three day-strike that would lead to a week-long work stoppage until demands were met.

"If they don’t act on our demands, we shall go on strike for a week and after that, if they still do not give us what we want, the strike will be indefinite and operations of the government will suffer," Secretary General of the Civil Servants Union of Zambia, Darrison Chaala told IPS.

The workers have ignored appeals from president Levy Mwanawasa and his new finance minister Ngandu Magande to find other ways of resolving the matter. The two have also called for sacrifices from the workers.

This has angered union leaders as Mwanawasa recently increased the salaries of legislators and politically appointed district administrators and hiked the perks of judges.

Chaala says it is government that should sacrifice as workers with their meagre salaries were already sacrificing. He referred to the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection that collects monthly cost of living statistics, which estimated that a household of six needs to spend up to 160 U.S. dollars on basics alone.

"We have given government solutions to the budget overrun and also where to find money for our salaries," says Chaala.

He says government should trim its 66-member cabinet, freeze expensive ministerial perks like cell phones, free fuel and expensive vehicles and also stop expensive foreign trips. It should also trim down the 42-member Constitutional Review Commission which civil society has rejected because of the cost of maintaining it.

Magande said the increments awarded to public service workers had to be revisited if economic targets were to be met. He also added that government "erred" in signing the collective agreement with the unions.

Magande said the government is in an awkward situation because the IMF, the World Bank and the bilateral western donors fund almost half of Zambia’s national budget. To access aid and debt relief, the government is expected to cut spending. Zambia has already failed to attain the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) floating completion point to qualify for debt cancellation by December.

If the government is to honour its promise to the workers it may have to borrow from the open market by selling Treasury Bills, increasing interest rates and possibly creating instability in the national currency, the Kwacha, economist Ignatius Chicha says.

But the unions are adamant about getting their money and have targeted workers in the government revenue department, encouraging them to remain defiant until demands are met.

"We want to hit them where it hurts most – that is in revenue collection. We see how much money is coming in, so we know that what we want is not far fetched. We are going for the jugular because obviously softly, softly does not help," Chaala says.

Donors have expressed concern about the apparent stand off between the unions and government and have encouraged a quick resolution. But Magande says there cannot be a resolution fast or slow, if government has no money. "If the IMF can help, then we will be able to resolve this issue. But the IMF is not willing so we cannot do anything," he argues.

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