Teacher organisations under the banner of the Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Union (FOZEU) have announced that they will embark on a weeklong strike should their request for a meeting with the Government over salary grievances fail to materialize and yield results.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, FOZEU said its members had written letters to the employer (PSC) and to President Emmerson Mnangagwa without response.
“On Saturday 4 June 2022 Teacher Unions under the Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Unions, FOZEU convened to discuss a response strategy to hyperinflation in the context of stagnant salaries. It was noted that affiliates of the Federation, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, PTUZ and Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, ARTUZ had written to the President and the Ministry of Public Service respectively on separate occasions.
“The PTUZ wrote to the President on 27 May, requesting his urgent intervention on salaries among other issues, the President did not respond. The ARTUZ wrote to the Ministry of Public Service and line Ministries on 26 April and got a response on 29 April. The Ministry promised to tackle salary Crisis but the promise never materialised,” said the Federation
Despite a follow up correspondence giving government a June 1 ultimatum to resolve salary crisis, FOZEU said no response was received from government leaving them with no option but to call for the week long industrial action.
“The Unions resolved that teachers and other civil servants should be mobilised for a week-long stay away tentatively from 27 June to 1 July. Unions were tasked to consult members and other civil servants. After a series of online consultation meetings the FOZEU member Unions resolved to shift the job action to the week 20 to 24 June. Unions further resolved to include the issue of exorbitant ZIMSEC public examination fees as another demand for the week long protest.
“The Federation will write a request for an urgent meeting with Treasury and Public Service Commission, a solution should be panned out by 20 June, failure of which teachers will proceed on the week long job action. Teachers and other civil servants are invited to join this week long job action as a way of protesting against underpayment and exorbitant ZIMSEC public examination fees,” said FOZEU
Teachers are demanding the restoration of pre October 2018 salaries of USD 540, government promised to restore these salaries but has defaulted on the pledge.
The Federation which draws its membership from the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Educators Union of Zimbabwe (EUZ) and the Professional Educators’ Union of Zimbabwe (PEUZ) urged Government to engage in genuine dialogue with the Teacher Unions to find a solution to the crisis in the education sector.
