Mozambique: Government will only pay minimum wage based on TSU this month

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Mozambique: Government will only pay minimum wage based on TSU this month

3:30 CAT | 20 Jul 2022

Photo: O País

The Mozambican government has promised to pay the new minimum wage for workers in the public administration, as approved in the Single Wage Scale (TSU), to about 21,000 state employees before the end of July.

The new minimum wage is set at 8,756 meticais (137 dollars at the current exchange rate). It is an 87.6 per cent increase on the previous monthly minimum wage of 4,668 meticais,

The fact was announced on Tuesday by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, at the end of a meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), in Maputo.

According to the Minister, the minimum wage, level one of the TSU, does not follow the criteria of age or length of service, as happens with the other levels in the Single Wage Scale. “There is, however, the possibility that some employees who were initially at level one may see their situation reviewed in the application of the other criteria”, Tonela said.

The government has also decided to postpone application of the TSU to the remaining state employees paid above the minimum. This means that this month they will be paid according to the old wage scales.

The TSU cuts the number of wage levels in the public administration to just 21, but the system is made much more complex by the application within each level (except level one) of the criteria of age, length of service, length of career and educational level.

Tonela said there had been inconsistencies, especially in the application of age and length of service criteria, factors that “create problems that undermine the objectives that led to the application of this procedure.

Some corrections, the minister added, can only be made after coordination between the government and other sovereign institutions, such as the Mozambican Parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.

“We are continuing to collect information to give the proper treatment to situations, to ensure that they are properly handled and resolved, allowing the government to proceed with implementing the Single Wage Table”, stressed the Minister.

In fact, the TSU is causing serious discontent within the public administration. The National Union of Public Service Workers (SNAFP) has even called for implementation of the TSU to be suspended.

“This TSU is showing that, while the intention is good, the practice shows it is very damaging in comparison with what was hoped for. It is causing disharmony among the staff of the public service”, said Eliazario Mausse, the general secretary of the SNAFP, interviewed in Wednesday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”.

While the TSU does not cut anybody’s wages, Mausse claimed there are situations where some officials now earn less than their subordinates. “The criteria used”, he said, “end up penalizing the most experienced and best trained staff”.

There were now cases where staff with mid-level education are earning more than those with a university degree. Mausse thought this should never happen – although one of the recurrent complaints against the old system was that it overvalued academic qualifications, and undervalued professional experience.

The age criterion, Mausse complained, benefitted young entrants to a career in the public service and reduced the potential income of the most experienced workers, almost at the end of their career.

Source: AIM