The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions on Tuesday said it is concerned that mid-year salary negotiations in the private sector are moving at too slow a pace with most employers reluctant to increase wages for their employees.
ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo said many companies are giving top managers large salary increases while ordinary workers earn less than half of the US$502 considered to be the minimum monthly income required by a family of five.
Only in the banking sector has pay risen above the Zimbabwe's so-called poverty datum line with entry-level monthly salaries currently at around US$575.
Matombo told VOA reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that salaries in the private sector were also being held down by the freeze on public sector pay, a benchmark for many firms.
Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe Executive Director John Mufukare said companies would like to raise wages to bolster employee morale but can't afford to do so now.
Responding to Matombo's criticism of the disparity between executive salaries and wages of workers, he said firms are increasing the pay of executives to retain them.
