The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called for a united front by all civil servants in the battle for good working conditions and decent salaries, saying teachers cannot win it alone.
The call comes at a time teachers and the government are at loggerheads over salaries and better working conditions.
The teachers had been threatening to down tools, demanding to be paid in US dollars (2018) salaries.
“Teachers on their own will never get decent salaries & will not win the fight for a decent living
“That is why we are calling for all workers to unite & collectively fight for decent wages,” says ZCTU.
Meanwhile, the government through the Public Service Commission says it is committed to finding common ground with its workers, particularly teachers.
The government recently said it is pleased to announce that National Joint Negotiation Council (NJNC) meeting of 1 April continued in earnest and very honest way.
The government said, taking cognizant that some civil servants who do not belong to unions might not wish to forgo the immediate improvement of their emoluments, it would wish to pay what is available.
However, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) which is one of the participants in the dialogues says the NJNC meeting was a drama, has come to pass, with incapacitation still persisting.
ARTUZ says the employer and its sweetheart unions have failed to restore the value of teachers’ salaries, adding that the education sector has been further plunged into chaos, urging others to join in.
-Zwnews
