CSAWUZ appeals for reasonable pay rise

THE Civil Servants and Allied Workers Unions of Zambia (CSAWUZ) has appealed to Government to budget for a reasonable wage increase next year CSAWUZ president Davies Chiyobe said workers across the country were facing difficulties in ensuring that they had basic needs such as food and decent accommodation as their current wages. Backing the Zambia Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) Mr Chiyobe said the workers were highly expectant of better salaries Mr Chiyobe said in an interview in Ndola that a reasonable rise in salaries would help improve the livelihood of employees. "If a reasonable increase in the workers’ wages is made, it would enable them attain quality basic needs services with access to clean and safe water which would help curb outbreak of diseases," he said. He lamented that the cost of living had gone up, making it difficult for the workers to sustain their livelihoods. He noted that a job should be someone's pride and motivating enough and this could lead to high The civil service was fraught with inefficiencies partly because employees were poorly remunerated. Mr Chiyobe said with the current wages, it was hard for employees to save as they lived a hand-to-mouth situation. Last week, ZCTU president Chishimba Nkole proposed that the government increases wages significantly for public workers across the country so as to improve their living standards.