Government and Civil Servants trade Union (CSTU) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), that effectively ends a 10-day industrial action by the government workers.

According to the agreement, the lowest paid will get a 61 per cent salary increment (K18,000 to around K29,000), while the highest paid will get 5 per cent.

Government had provided a lump sum of K5.7 billion to address the concerns of the civil servants.

The new salary structure will be in effect from 1st January 2013 but the civil servants will start getting the new salaries from March 2013.

Arrears for January and February will be given to the government workers in July 2013.

According to the agreement, a circular will be issued on the increment.

The two teams have also agreed to lift a 5-day limit of days of subsistence allowance per month.

Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) president Eliah Kamphinda Banda said although they cannot be satisfied, at least government has responded to their concerns.

“If you are talking the monies, I don’t know if we can be satisfied. The process was quite tiresome but we have tried,” Kamphinda said.

He said he will brief the workers at Capital Hill’s Freedom Park about the development. Together with Teachers Union of Malawi secretary general, Denis Kalekeni, he said the strike which has been taking place is over.

Asked to comment where got the money for the increments, new Government Negotiating Team chairperson Ben Botolo said the money has be taken from the budget.

“We looked around the approved budget and cut down on some votes. It’s a hard decision. Some services will have to suffer. We had to make a choice on whether to go on like this or not,” Botolo said.