The Herald
19 February 2010
Harare — GOVERNMENT says it presently has no solution to the civil servants’ strike that enters its second full week today.
This came as unionists said they would hold a report back meeting with their members in the Harare Gardens today after which they will march through the city centre.
The Public Service Commission has since declared the strike illegal, ordering State employees who have not been reporting for duty to do so immediately.
Yesterday, PSC chairman Dr Mariyawanda Nzuwah declined to comment on what action they were going to take after that warning went largely unheeded.
The strike has not caught on in many Government departments, but some schools have been negatively affected, especially in rural and peri-urban areas where parents are not forthcoming with incentives.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart conceded Government was still to find a solution to the impasse.
“The position is unchanged. There is no resolution between employees and Government and we are still pursuing all available options to end the strike.
“One of the solutions is to continue negotiations with all parties,” he said.
Minister Coltart warned teachers against inducing parents to pay them allowances in return for lessons for their children.
The minister refused to comment on today’s rally, referring all questions to Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, who was not answering his cellphone.
Mrs Tendai Chikowore, who chairs the Apex Council, that brings together all civil service unions said they would decide on what course of action to take after briefing their counterparts.
“It will be up to them to tell us what course of action to take,” she said.
New Ziana quoted Public Service Association executive secretary Mr Emmanuel Tichareva as saying: “Civil servants are still on strike and tomorrow (today) union leaders will be meeting civil servants as we try to chart the way forward.
“We will be informing members on what we have gathered from meetings with other members in different cities.”
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association chief executive Mr Sifiso Ndlovu added: “We will hold a public meeting with members which will be followed by a march from Harare Gardens through Julius Nyerere Way, Nelson Mandela Avenue to Fourth Street.
“We will pass through Kaguvi Building and the New Government Complex handing out petitions to the ministries of Finance and Public Service.”
A snap survey yesterday showed most Government departments were functional though some were only manned by senior staff.
Those schools that have agreed incentives schemes with parents are open while others remain shut.
At Beatrice Government Boarding Primary School, the headmistress was moving from class to class giving pupils work to do.
“I am the only one attending to these children. I cannot ask why a teacher is absent as I fully understand the situation.
“We cannot close the school because it is a boarding school, I just have to hang around and see that the children have someone to look after them,” she said.
At Gilstone Primary and Secondary School teachers and parents were locked in a meeting to map the way forward.
“Once we agree on a suitable figure we are going to commence lessons,” one of the teachers said.
Classrooms were locked at Ardno Primary School and there was no sign of teachers or students.
School children interviewed said they last had lessons in January.
General Agriculture and Plantation Workers’ Union information officer Mr Tapiwa Zivira said teachers at farm schools were demanding US$1 per subject for secondary school students and the same amount per primary school pupil.
“Farm labourers are failing to raise such figures because the majority earn US$32 per month.
“Ten schools in Chegutu’s farming and surrounding rural areas had more than 450 school dropouts before the strike because of difficulties in raising school fees,” he said.
In Zhombe, Mrs Petronella Sayi said pupils at Fafi Primary School had stopped going to school because of the strike.
In most of Harare’s high-density schools, lessons were in full swing.
Civil servants are demanding a minimum monthly salary of US$630 up from the current average of US$160.
Government has reportedly factored in the US$15 allowance it promised for this month’s salaries.