Govt faces more demands for better pay

The Zambian government's already strained budget faces yet more demands from the public sector, as police have now joined the ranks of 120,000 other civil servants demanding better salaries and perks. The government's budget overrun has been met with disapproval from donors and the International Monetary Fund, who have withheld about US $175 million earmarked to support Zambia. Late on Monday more than 120,000 public workers in Zambia called off a two-week-old national strike that virtually crippled government operations. The workers have instead engaged a lawyer to take their case against the government to the courts, said Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Leonard Hikaumba. "Several innocent people, such as the sick or ill people, suffered because of the strike because even health workers ... downed tools. That is why we decided to use other avenues to resolve our dispute with the government. The courts provide a better avenue I think," Hikaumba told IRIN. However, a leading rights activist in Lusaka, Pastor Cholwe Mwetwa, said the strike could have been avoided in the first place. "The government should not have given a different package to High Court judges, another one to ministers, and refuse to give junior public workers better perks - even after signing an agreement with them [to increase housing allowances]," pastor Cholwe told IRIN. The Zambian government signed a collective agreement with public sector unions in April, agreeing to pay them a 40 percent housing allowance and better wages. Many Zambian public sector workers are finding it hard to make ends meet as the cost of living rises. The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), which collects monthly cost-of-living data, said that as of August an average family of six needed at least US $200 a month. However, police officers take home a paltry Kwacha 200,000 a month, about US $40. On Monday the police force wrote to the government, saying their salaries needed to be adjusted upwards. The police force is regarded as an essential service in Zambia, and cannot therefore embark on strike action. This development is likely to add to the government's woes, despite a temporary reprieve following the public workers' decision to end their strike. The government says it will not be able to plug a US $124 million budget overrun if it has to meet the public sector pay demands, and has already moved to trim ministers salaries by 30 percent.