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MBABANE – It was expected for civil servants who received a share in the E65 million for their 2016 salary review appeals to be happy but the total opposite happened for court clerks.
In an interview with some of the court clerks, who preferred to remain anonymous, they said they were disappointed upon receiving their salaries to learn that the increment was backdated by one year.
They stated that their expectation was to that their salaries would be backdated to 2016, when the appeals of the salary review were made.
Remunerated
The court clerks were previously remunerated under the B5 pay scale and have been shifted to C3, which they said they received an increment which was less than E1 000.
According to the court clerks, most of the money received as back pay was taxed, while some of it was directed to their pension fund.
Reached for comment on the issue, Acting National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) Secretary General Thabile Zwane said they were actually shocked that government had paid workers.
Zwane said this was a sign that government did not respect unions as it took a decision to pay civil servants without any collective agreement or circular, which the unions representing the workers approved.
Decision
“Government just woke up and took the decision to pay the employees’ salaries,” she said.
Zwane said they were expecting that government would approach the Finance Ministry to request for the monies under the current financial year to be kept safe until the discussions on the appeals were over.
This, she said, had really shocked them as a union representing the workers. She said if government considered them as social partners, they had to wait.
The secretary general said they were yet to call their members’ leadership as a matter of urgency where joint general council would meet and discuss a way forward.