About 57 health workers at Solwezi General Hospital, who were engaged under the abolished health board, are claiming to be paid their Long Service Bonus arrears amounting to over K1, 8 million
According to a letter of complaint written to management and availed to ZANIS in Solwezi, the health workers are asking government to pay them the outstanding Long Service Bonuses which are ranging between K25, 000 to K35, 000.
The affected workers are former health board employees who were transferred to Public Service Management Division in 2012 and government has since put them on pensionable salaries.
Health Workers Union of Zambia (HWCZ) Provincial Chairperson, Whiteson Mulubwa, said the arrears are cumulative from as far as 1995 to 2012.
Mr Mulubwa said the union is aware that government is doing everything possible to ensure that the Long Service Bonuses and other arrears owned to workers are settled.
And HWCZ Provincial Secretary, Peter Mulenga, called on the workers to be patient because government has been liquidating the outstanding arrears including Long Service Bonuses.
Mr Mulenga, however, denied that the outstanding arrears being claimed by the workers were not the correct figures because government has been releasing money to offset the arrears.
All these are debts. Govt only talks about external debt leaving out the big log (internal debt) in their eyes. Please settle the debts especially self inflicted when govt was transfering civil servants without considering. Mwanawasa left District Commissioner ‘s offices while Sata left Disease Centres (DCs). Pay the debts please or else forget the few sympathy votes you could have pickked here. Shame.