Union pushes government on pay
Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to government to raise public servants’ salaries to cushion them from the impact of the 44 percent kwacha devaluation.
The union, which a couple of weeks ago proposed a 144 percent national minimum wage hike, has threatened to take unspecified action if the Malawi Government does not meet their demands.
Speaking to the media in Lilongwe yesterday, MCTU president Charles Kumchenga said the union was concerned with the steep rise in the cost of living which has eroded the purchasing power of civil servants whose incomes are already low.
He said: “The recent 44 percent devaluation has grave consequences on workers, the economy and the majority poor population at large.
“MCTU, therefore, calls upon the government to take immediate responsibility by protecting workers’ earnings through proportionate wage increases. The private sector too is called upon to cushion workers by adjusting salaries upwards corresponding to the devaluation.”
Kumchenga said the union wants the national minimum wage to be revised from K50 000 to K122 000 per month and that of domestic workers from K38 000 to K92 720.
MCTU has also proposed the same rate of increment for drivers, stating that those of 15 tonnes and below be revised from K60 000 to K146 400, from K100 000 to K244 000 for local truck drivers and from K140 000 to K341 600 for international truck drivers.
However, in a recent interview, Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam) executive director George Khaki highlighted that this is a very difficult moment for the nation to both workers and employers, and that there is, therefore, a need for discussions between employers and employees to come up with wages that will help companies stays afloat.
He said: “There is need for genuine discussions between employers and employees in respective organisations so that they can come up with optimal wages that will help the company operations, that will help the welfare of workers and that will also look into not hurting the economy of the country.
“Similarly, we call upon the government to urgently call upon stakeholders of the tripartite structure members [MCTU, Ecam and government] to discuss the matter at hand.”
In the aftermath of the devaluation implemented on November 9 2023, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda said the government would “immediately” engage allpublicl service trade unions to review salaries in the public sector and determine how civil servants can be properly cushioned against the kwacha alignment.
And in the 2023/24 Mid-Year Budget Review Statement in Parliament on November 20, the minister said government has increased its allocations to wages and salaries by 9.1 percent from K900.44 billion to K980.49 billion.
However, in a circular from Secretary to the Treasury McDonald Mafuta-Mwale to chief executive officers of commercial State-owned Enterprises (SOEs), Treasury advised them to limit their salary increment to public servants to 10 percent.
Reserve Bank of Malawi Governor Wilson Banda is on record as having cautioned against raising the wages, saying doing so could push up inflation and raise the production costs of businesses operating in the country.
MCTU represents about 150 000 workers in 26 affiliates.
The 44 percent devaluation saw the exchange rate being adjusted from K1 180.29 to K1 700 against the United States dollar in authorised dealer banks.
