ISSUES to do with labour and social security in Zambia have always been a subject of debate, especially at times when the sector has experienced policies such as the National Budget.

At the moment, the topical issue in the labour sector is the wage and recruitment freeze, a policy introduced by the Government on public service workers such as those in the teaching, health and other social sectors.

In the 2014 National Budget, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda introduced a two year wage freeze which entailed that in 2014 and 2015, public service workers would not be granted any salary increment.

The policy also enshrined that there would be no fresh recruits into the public service during these two years as Government sought to create fiscal space in order to achieve the provision of basic social services and reduce the amount of money spent on the public service wage bill.

The move to introduce the wage and recruitment freeze came at the same time that Government increased the tax exemption threshold under Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) from K2,200 to K3,000 per month.

This was aimed at increasing the take-home pay for the lowly-paid workers who often occupied the low income bracket.

But Government and the labour movement are now at loggerheads over the wage and recruitment freeze and views from either side of the coin have not only been contrasting but full of sense.

The Government on one end has emphasised that it will not back track on the move while the labour movement says it is willing to petition the State through Parliament to have the decision reversed.

There is still room for dialogue between Government and the workers’ representatives over this issue because both parties are obviously candid on finding a solution to best back up their claims.

Government, as a custodian of the welfare of its citizens has demonstrated commitment towards improving the welfare of its people through the creation of decent jobs.

Initiatives such as increasing the minimum wage threshold have contributed to the creation of decent jobs and the majority of workers both in the public and private sector now have the capacity to meet a substantial part of the basic needs basket.

But the Government did rush in implementing the wage and recruitment freeze as there was inadequate consultation with the labour movement and other interested stakeholders.

Owning a role of one of the major employers, Government should have tabled the wage freeze as a motion separately and allow for members of the general populace to make submissions before it could be implemented through an Act of parliament.

A similar thing should have been done for the recruitment freeze because other than the existing Government institutions, there are very few private schools and hospitals around to employ fresh graduates in teaching and those specialising in medicine.

It suffices to say that the current labour system in the public sector requires cleansing so that people are placed in the right positions, according to their skill and expertise to encourage efficient service delivery.

This is where the recruitment freeze comes into play; however, two years of it is extensive as fresh graduates keep on increasing in number annually.

The labour movement has a critical role to play in ensuring industrial harmony in the country and issues such as the wage and recruitment freeze should not persist beyond control.

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