Rutendo Chirume
Zimbabwe National Teachers’ Union (ZINATU) has challenged government that if it continues to apply its policy of ‘no work, no salary’ to teachers, they will be forced to adopt ‘no salary, no work’ tactic in retaliation because they have been trying to bargain with their employer to meet their grievances but it has been to no avail.
Speaking to TellZim News ZINATU secretary general Livison Maunganidze said because of their employer’s stance to their grievances they are demotivated and as such it is affecting the education sector which is already in shambles due to different challenges facing the economy.
“Now that the employer has applied a no work no salary principle, workers feel that they are deprived of their rights hence they will apply a no salary no work principle or ‘work as you earn’ .I think the employer should address and restore sanity in the education sector with the speed it deserves. If teachers are demotivated and not well remunerated, it does not need a rocket scientist or a prophet to tell that the education in Zimbabwe is under siege,” said Maunganidze.
He said of all the things government has said it will fulfill, nothing has materialized yet but instead the employer is a bully who violates teacher’s rights and uses a ‘by hook or crook’ method to force incapacitated teachers to work.
“What is worrisome is that government is paying a deaf ear to the concerns of teachers. Teachers demanded to be paid in United States dollars considering that everything is now sold in that currency. All the negotiations to discuss about that were not fruitful as the employer went on to victimize and deduct salaries for teachers who were said to be absent from duty. The process of deducting money was not done properly because some teachers who were not absent from duty during the period in question had their money deducted. In other words negotiating and bargaining no longer exist. Teachers wanted money to cater for their personal needs but government said they will pay school fees direct into school accounts which has not been done to date.
“Some teachers do not have children, others have children learning abroad or have finished schooling, their concerns were not listened to. Thus a direct violation to some teachers’ rights to access that allowance yet the employer expects the same teachers to perform equally with those who would have benefited from that project. Unjustified suspensions of some teachers who were said to be on strike are painstaking. One would then remain with a question: Are teachers not allowed to demonstrate or expressing their views or exercising their rights? It does not go down well with teachers.
“Government has failed to pay teachers a living wage looking at the cost of living which is rising on daily basis, government promised non-monetary benefits, up to now nothing materialized, duty free for civil servant cars but how can they buy cars if not well remunerated. Unions wrote so many petitions regarding the issue of restoration of termly vacation leave and debunching. Teachers used to go for termly leave but the employer decided to cut it to a monthly leave. Was that decision negotiated and by whom? The employer should come to her senses and restore proper working conditions. There is urgent need to debunch teachers. The grading system should apply in the education sector. Why is it being ignored as if it’s not necessary?” he added.
In Zimbabwe, a teacher earns less than USD $200 a month using the official exchange rate, and less than USD $100 at the illegal market exchange rate widely used for goods and services.
