STRIKING public workers in Zambia have scaled down their demands from a 100% pay hike to a “reasonable” salary increment, a union leader said on Monday. “We have come down from our initial demand. We have asked the government to give us a reasonable offer,” said Darison Chaala, secretary general of the Civil Servants Union of Zambia. Some 80_000 government workers went on strike five weeks ago demanding a minimum pay hike of 100%, but government then was prepared to offer only 35%. The strike has paralysed government operations and social services in the southern African country. Public workers in Zambia, including nurses and teachers, earn the equivalent of less than $50 per month. – AFP
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