Workers' strike to go ahead without permission

Zambian workers have vowed to go ahead with a nationwide strike against higher income taxes and a wage freeze this week, with or without permission from the authorities. The Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union (CSAWU) told IRIN on Monday that police in the capital, Lusaka, denied permission for the demonstration to take place on Wednesday. "We have followed the correct procedures, but without success. The police said they did not have sufficient manpower and instructed us to cancel the protest - but at least we have notified them. We will now continue with our plans, irrespective of what the authorities have to say," CSAWU secretary-general Darrison Chaala warned. He said about 10,000 civil servants are expected to take to the streets on Wednesday. The imposition of increased income taxes and a wage freeze on state employees lie at the heart of the dispute. Government workers argue that state salaries are already meagre, and further taxation would deal a severe blow to struggling households. But cabinet secretary Leslie Mbula told IRIN that although income tax had been increased in this month's budget, the tax threshold had also been raised, so that employees earning less than $54.73 a month would pay no tax. "The new tax regime will really only affect those who earn over two million Kwacha (about US $420) and there are only a very few employees who do earn that amount. In fact, a civil servant who earned around $150 per month can expect to take home about $20 more every month," Mbula explained. While government workers would not be given a general salary increase this year, they would still receive the existing annual increments within salary scales. "The government cannot afford to pay salary increases this year because we do not have the money to do so. There are also state employees who have reached the peak regarding how much more they can be paid in their current positions," Mbula explained. Last year President Levy Mwanawasa's government incurred a budget overrun of 610 billion kwacha (about $130 million), resulting in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donors withholding $175 million in funding. In response to fiscal reforms recommended by the IMF, the government has embarked on a number of austerity measures to rein in spending. Mbula said: "We implore the workers to stay at their desks until this disagreement has been sorted out. The doors of negotiation are still open, but we must make it clear that should they go ahead with the strike, it would be regarded as illegal and their absence from duty involves non-payment for the period of absence." He refuted news reports that workers risked being fired if they participated in the protest.