ZIMBABWEAN teachers have resolved to report for duty only once a week, starting next week, after government has awarded them and the rest of the civil servants a paltry 10 % increase starting this April.
This came out at a meeting by the APEX Council and different teachers unions in Harare on Friday.
Civil servants, led by vocal teachers who constitute the largest group of civil servants, have spearheaded demands for US dollar wages but government says it has no resources to pay them in forex.
In the case of government’s failure to pay forex, civil servants want their employer to award them the $1 733 which they have placed last November as the most realistic wage the lowest paid worker could afford a decent livelihood.
Currently, the lowest paid grosses only $414 a month.
Civil servants have flatly rejected the 10 % increase offered Thursday saying it was an insult in an economy that has seen prices of goods and services go up three times in the past three months.
Following the government pledge, teachers unions have resolved to only offer their services once a week with Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Raymond Majongwe telling the media they did not care where government will source for the funds to pay them.
PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou followed with a message cementing the educators’ position.
“Members have also decided to move to another level with effect from next week, viz, working one day per week,” he said.
“That level will also be followed by the highest level of completely not turning up after the maturation of our two week notice of industrial action.
“The duration of our action will be determined by government’s ability to give a better offer in US$ or its equivalent in line with the purchasing power parity concept.
“As Ptuz, we therefore call all teachers across the union divide to sharpen our instruments of combat, as the industrial action clanks into gear and picks momentum. We are our own liberators. Cowards die several deaths before their actual deaths.”
Zimbabwe Teachers Association president Richard Gundane said government should pay them wages that tally with the country’s Poverty Datum Line.
Civil servants Tuesday gave government a two-week notice to embark on an all-out job action.
-Zimbabwe Star