This country’s perplexing and unequal labour situation has again been thrust into the limelight this week with roughly 100 000 civil servants voting on whether to go on strike after negotiations for better pay failed, while the City of Windhoek’s astronomical wage bill has come under scrutiny again.
Many civil servants don’t see any other way but to withhold their labour as it has become expensive to continue to work because the cost of food, fuel and debt have more than skyrocketed just this year.
Lower-level civil servants, who do the actual work, are not paid massive salaries, and have not seen a salary increase in over five years.
Their bosses, including politicians, on the other hand, have coined it.
In recent months, senior government officials have rediscovered their wanderlust as the country opens up after Covid-19 restrictions, no doubt pocketing huge amounts in travel allowances while telling workers there’s no way they can get more money to just get by.
Public workers’ salaries have not kept up with inflation and an increase in the cost of living.
Meanwhile, the councillors, management and workers of the City of Windhoek have been laughing all the way to the bank, while the municipality accumulated a loss of N$3.2 billion in the last decade. The budgeted employment cost for the 2022/23 financial year is N$1.6 billion, as the N$70 million losses on bus services and a lifelong post-retirement medical aid scheme has made Windhoek technically insolvent.
The city’s management committee this week said employees are paid over 144% more than market-related salaries. In the lowest bracket, the city pays 600% above market rate.
No one begrudges city employees their generous wages and perks but we, the residents, simply can not afford it. And they certainly do not deserve it. Half of Windhoek lives in informal housing because of the city’s failure to provide services such as affordable housing, and many residents pay a considerable chunk of their income for transport because the city is unable to provide a regular, reliable, safe and affordable transport service. Windhoek is a poor city employing the wealthy.
Such unjustified salaries are unsustainable.
Both the civil service and municipal workers’ conundrum point to ineffective management, and an inability to implement lofty plans and promises to reign in expenditure and make services more affordable and professional. Unions who serve the elite and the political aspirations of their long-serving bosses should also take the blame in both cases. Public service unions have been asleep at the wheel for years and have caused, on the one hand, the impoverishment of civil servants, while allowing the unsustainable wage structure that could undermine essential services soon at the city.
Meanwhile, uncertainty and an impossible choice engulf their civil servant members.
On the one hand, a prolonged and effective strike could force government back to the negotiating table, but not earning an income or benefits while on strike would ruin most. But a no vote would allow the employer to drive down salaries even further, causing morale to also plummet.
This is a no-win situation for all involved, and the best way is to return to the drawing board with firm suggestions on how to trim the civil service to a lean and efficient entity.
Windhoek residents should demand the same action from their councillors.