Trade union rejects move to slash salaries

Central African Republic's labour union federation, the Union Syndicale des Travailleurs Centrafricains, has rejected a government decision to slash civil servants' salaries in an effort to reduce state spending, a union official told IRIN on Monday. "There are other ways to generate money for the public treasury without cutting civil servants’ salaries," Sonny Cole, the union's secretary-general, said. He said the decision to reject the government’s move was taken on Saturday, at the union’s general assembly meeting. Some 15,000 of the country’s estimated 25,000 civil servants are members of the union. Civil servants have rejected the government's move because they have not received any increments in a long time and have not been paid regularly, Cole said. The government is only now paying salaries for November 2003. Cole said that civil servants' salaries had been fixed by a law that stipulates the basis for salary increases and reductions, and that the government’s decision contravened this law. Asked about the possibility of negotiating with the government on the salary percentage to be cut, Cole said: "The only thing we advise the government to do is to never cut civil servants’ salaries." The union rejected the government’s decision two days after a meeting of all the country’s stakeholders with CAR leader Francois Bozize. At that time, Bozize told the participants, who included senior officials and the representatives of labour unions, that the government had reached "the bottom of the pot" and that salary cuts were unavoidable. During that meeting, Finance Minister Jean-Pierre Lebouder said that civil servants serving in lower categories would not be affected by the move but that each civil servant would make a sacrifice proportionate with his earnings. Salaries for ministers and other senior government officials have been cut by 30 percent. The highest monthly salary in the public service is 3.5 million francs CFA (US $6,796) and the lowest 17,000 francs ($33). Meanwhile, the National Transitional Council, the country's law advisory body, has started examining the 2004 budget and the government’s annual programme. Debate is underway with council members questioning Prime Minister Celestin Gaombalet. On Friday, the council unanimously authorised the government to ratify the treaties instituting the African Economic Community and the Pan-African Parliament.