CHENGETAI ZVAUYA
Teachers have threatened to boycott the opening of schools in January if their working conditions are not improved, Business Times can report.
Schools in Zimbabwe are expected to resume in January after being forced to close last week to eliminate the spread of the Covid-19.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira Zhou said teachers were unhappy with the working environment and salary structure.
Teachers are demanding to be paid US$500 per month.
But, government is adamant it can’t afford.
“We decided to go back to classes in November to enable the students to sit for their end of year examinations and give chance to salary negotiations with government,” Zhou said.
“But, nothing has changed in terms of working conditions.
Our salaries are still low and our members are still exposed to the Covid -19 pandemic,” Zhou said.
Zhou revealed that all teachers unions’ representatives have agreed not to go back to the schools when the school term begins in January.
“We can expect the industrial actions from teachers from all unions to continue and more so we are facing a second wave of Covid -19 and we need personal protection equipment which government has not provided,” Zhou said.
The call for a strike by a teachers’ union body comes as members of the organised labour made up of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions and Apex Council recently expressed displeasure with proceedings at Tripartite Negotiating Forum.
The labour unions said there was lack of seriousness by the government and business when it comes to addressing the erosion of wages and salaries.
The unions said while business was against indexing wages and salaries to the United States dollar exchange rate, the sector was profiteering “by indexing goods and services to the exchange rate”.
