CSTU warns Malawi politicians over claims
The Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) has sent a warning to some individuals who are politicising the recent memorandum of understanding the body signed with government to end a 10-day public workers strike.
Two weeks ago, Malawi Government, through its negotiating team, signed an agreement with CSTU that ended a week’s long strike by the public workforce that paralysed key sectors of the society including health and education. In the agreement, government will from this month, implement a new salary structure that will see lowest paid civil servants getting a 61 percent increment and five percent to the highest paid, effective January.
All arrears will be paid by July 2013.
However, CSTU has threatened to mobilise the workforce to rise against some politicians who have qualified themselves to start making and uttering comments over the deal.
“These people are posing as if they are the ones who are more knowledgeable and even took part in the crafting of the agreement. CSTU has noticed a number of such unwelcome remarks from people such as Presidential Adviser Malani Mtonga and other People’s Party (PP) functionaries who have been politicising the agreement between us and the government negotiating team,” reads a statement from the union signed by CSTU’s president Eliah Kamphinda Banda and general secretary Pontius Elijah Kalichero.
“Kamlepo Kalua now PP member repeated the same at a presidential rally at Chintheche in Nkhata Bay on Saturday. As a result, we would like to bring to their attention that civil servants have complained to the union as to why the politicians are distorting the information,” the letter reads.
