Teachers strike enters third week

September 11, 2009

SW RadioAfrica
By Violet Gonda
11 September 2009

The strike action led by the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) is going into its third week, with no solution in sight. ZIMTA embarked on a nationwide strike for better salaries and working conditions, to coincide with the start of the new term on September 3rd. ZIMTA acting Chief Executive Officer, Sifiso Ndlovu, said the strike action will continue until the authorities prioritised education. However he said the union is waiting for a number of crises meetings with the authorities next week. Ndlovu said this was as a result of meetings they first had with Education Minister David Coltart on September 8th and a follow-up meeting with Public Service Minister, Eliphas Mukonoweshuro.

According to Ndlovu they have also been directed to present their grievances to the National Joint Negotiating Council, which operates under the Public Service Ministry. He said; “We hope at that meeting we should be able to reach an understanding.”

ZIMTA is demanding a salary increase, up from about US$150 a month to US$500, however the government has said this is beyond its means. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was quoted this week saying teachers should stop their industrial action as there was no way government could cede to their demands, as it is broke. Reports quoted the PM addressing a stakeholders’ briefing at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic College saying the teachers “cannot squeeze blood out of a stone.”
Tsvangirai is also quoted saying: “We are all earning the same amount and I believe the decision by teachers to go on strike was a bad proposition.”

Ndlovu believes the crisis in their sector is not about the government’s lack of resources, but about misplaced priorities. He told SW Radio Africa on Friday: “We have identified areas of wastage where we think government has had its priorities wrong and areas where we think they can channel some of the resources to education.”

Since the formation of the coalition government, the authorities have been criticised for spending much needed money on buying expensive vehicles for officials and extensive globetrotting, at a time when it should be streamlining all expenditure to set an example that the new government was going to be different to the old.

Ndlovu insists the teachers are aware of the government’s economic crisis, but are asking for their salaries to be increased progressively towards the poverty datum line, which at present is $502.