Teachers Unions In Huge Fight Over Failed Strike
14 February 2019
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Correspondent|SHARP divisions have emerged among rival teachers’ unions in Zimbabwe, amid accusations that the two largest teachers’ bodies which called off last week’s planned strike have sold out the labour struggle.
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (ARTRUZ) has accused the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) of selling out the labour struggle by buckling under pressure from the employer before their demands had been met.

In a statement released on Monday, ARTUZ said: “The wheels of inevitability have finally delivered the dreaded, but expected reality, sister unions have jumped ship. Our battle for a living wage, which we began in earnest with a 275km salary caravan from Mutare to Harare — followed up with a salary camp at (Finance) minister Mthuli [Ncube]’s office and capped with a historic job action have been compromised. The so-called big unions stepped in and gave false hope to the teachers, yet the intention was to rock the ship, which was gathering momentum.”
But PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou said they called off the strike because thousands of their members, who had heeded the call and stayed away, would have lost their February salaries.


“The purpose of a trade union is to advance the interests of members and defend any gains made. Having advanced the interests of our members in a spirited two–days turn-up a week, one-day turn-up and four days stayaway, the employer targeted our entrenched hardcore fighters for decimation. The strategy was simply to withhold their February salaries.

“As much as we could have appealed to the courts against such a move, the wheels of justice do not turn so fast in Zimbabwe. One of the reasons for suspending the industrial action was in order to protect our hardcore members, who were in their trenches and were about to be sprayed with poison gas,” he said.


Zhou said another reason for calling off the strike was that members were being intimidated by State security agents and war veterans.


“Another reason for the suspension of the industrial action was the total invasion of schools by rogue youths, war veterans, security forces, councillors, among others, and the threats and systematic targets of teachers. This posed serious threats to educators in their residential areas outside schools. The decision to suspend the industrial action was painful, but worth taking to protect all members who heeded to the stayaway call,” he said.

The PTUZ leader also lamented the fact that some teachers did not heed the call to go on strike and continued reporting for duty, saying that weakened the industrial action.


“Such a protective measure (to call off the strike) would not have been important had all teachers given heed to the stayaway. Trade unionism is about collective security by acting as a group. I could personally not envision the enjoyment of cowards at the suffering of real cadres,” said Zhou.