TEACHERS have threatened industrial action if government
does not adjust their salaries to $600 per month to cushion them against a wave
of price increases and the central bank’s 2% tax on all electronic transfers.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has also
rallied workers to take to the streets to protest the new tax regime that has
sparked a wave of price increases of all basic commodities, consequently
eroding ordinary workers’ disposal income.
According to reports, the ZCTU is yet to announce the dates
of the strike action.
Prices of basic commodities were already shooting up almost
on a daily basis as the exchange rate went wild. Government maintains a 1:1
bond note to US$ exchange rate but the situation is different on the parallel
market.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said teachers want government not only to
review their salaries, but to ensure their pay is in United States dollars.
The monetary policy statement by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe effectively means workers are no longer earning US$, but a local
currency.
“Given the fall in the value of our salaries, our hard
working and patriotic members hereby give the government an ultimatum to
restore our salaries to not less than US$600, failure to which we may be forced
to a collective job action to demand the same,” Majongwe said yesterday without
mentioning when the educators will embark on a strike action.
He argued the government had the capacity to pay them in
greenbacks.
“It is a statement of fact that the government is receiving
most of its revenue in US$ and not in the less valuable Real Time Gross
Settlement (RTGS), and, therefore, has capacity to pay our salaries in US and
not in RTGS as per the policy pronouncement.”
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz)
president Obert Masaraure weighed in saying rural-based teachers would join the
industrial action, as their hard-earned salaries were being eroded by the
government’s monetary and fiscal policies such as the recent introduction of a
new punitive tax regime.
“It is against this background that Artuz rejects RTGS
salaries as they were never agreed upon through a formal bipartisan negotiating
platform. Our employer cannot just adjust our salaries without our consent. We
still expect our salaries in US dollars until fresh negotiations are
conducted,” Masaraure said.
“This is another wage theft herein the government is giving
us a salary with the right hand and claims it is back using the left hand. We
reject the tax regime and stand ready to defend our wages by any means
necessary.”
Zanu PF has also expressed concern over the recent price
hikes.
Industry and Commerce minister Mangaliso Ndlovu concurred,
saying the government will come up with measures to address the price hikes. He
said the price hikes were speculative and unjustified. Newsday
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