By Own Correspondent- Peter Mutasa, the ZCTU president, has lamented the plight of workers adding that workers are now worse off than during the reign of former president Robert Mugabe’s era.

Mutasa said his organisation was organising a mass stayaway and the alleged death threats would not deter them from calling for the stayaway.

In an interview with The Standard, Mutasa said:

“Yes, the situation is now worse than January 2019.

It is also much worse than what we experienced with former president Robert Mugabe in late 2017.

We are currently collating data about some of the issues arising like job losses, non-payment of wages, levels of salaries erosion, pension losses etc.

Workers are the hardest hit because despite earning almost nothing, they still have to continue reporting for work. As a result, many workers are borrowing money for transport and some are walking to work. Due to ill-advised policies, prices of goods and services are pegged in US$, while salaries have remained in valueless RTGs.

This has resulted in a serious disequilibrium that is hurting workers and the poor citizens.

A lot of workers’ families are starving as their salaries are barely sufficient to cater for a oneweek food basket.

Most families are now affording only one decent meal a day.

Schoolchildren are going to school hungry and many without adequate winter clothing.

Workers and their families are dying in homes or in public hospitals because they can no longer afford medical care.

Drugs are expensive and medical aid schemes are now dysfunctional.

A visit to a doctor requires one to borrow a loan for consultation alone because it now costs two or three months’ salary.

Many schoolchildren are dropping out or will do so due to failure by their parents to pay school fees. In short, we have a humanitarian crisis of gigantic proportions.”- TheStandard