Teachers under
the Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Union (FOZEU) are demanding a salary of
US$1 250 per month.
The umbrella
body brings together the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz),
Education Union of Zimbabwe, Professional Educators Union of Zimbabwe and the
Zimbabwe Visually Impaired Teachers Union.
They held a meeting in Harare on Wednesday, where they resolved to down tools. Teachers have been bemoaning poor working conditions and low salaries over the years.
They say the
National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) is failing to yield results in terms
of reaching an amicable agreement over their grievances.
In a letter
dated May 21, 2025, addressed to Primary and Secondary Education minister
Torerai Moyo, FOZEU secretary-general Obert Masaraure, who is also the leader
of Artuz, said the union would pursue legal avenues to ensure the rights of its
members were respected.
“We write to
notify you that the Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Union has called for a
strike effective May 26, 2025,” Masaraure said in the letter.
“This
industrial action demands an urgent salary review to enable teachers to meet
the costs of reporting for duty and to live dignified lives.
“Trade unions
affiliated to the FOZEU have been mandated by their members to call for the
strike.
“Teachers will
also be picketing at their workstation to register their demands. The pickets
shall be conducted with support from the communities who support the cause of
teachers.”
Primary and
Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro hit out at unions
calling for a strike action.
“The clamour
for a strike is not a movement, it is the shrill cry of a handful of anxious
activists disguising themselves as educators,” Ndoro said.
“Let us be
unequivocal: the so-called ‘union’ leading this charade is a fringe group of a
dozen individuals, not a legitimate federation.
“Its members .
. . lack both the mandate and the capacity to represent Zimbabwe’s teachers.
Their theatrics belong to the past.”
He added: “In
the second republic, strikes are obsolete. Progress demands pragmatism, not
performative outrage. Instead of clinging to defunct tactics, this group should
dissolve its pretence.
“To those
fixated on disruption, redirect your energy. Seek wisdom from unions that
understand real change is forged in classrooms, not chaos. The nation’s
children deserve better than your theatrics.”
Currently,
teachers earn an average of US$250 per month and around ZiG3 000.
FOZEU said the
amount could barely cover their basic needs.
While FOZEU
members are demanding a salary of at least US$1 250, other unions are demanding
that the government reverts to the pre-October 2018 salary of US$540.
An NJNC meeting
held last week, where civil servants were demanding a salary increment, ended
in a deadlock.
On Wednesday,
the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe petitioned President Emmerson
Mnangagwa demanding his intervention to direct Treasury to increase their
salaries.
Teachers have,
over the years, been at loggerheads with the government over low salaries.
NewsDay
established that health workers also plan to down tools over similar grievances
and lack of medicines and medical equipment at public hospitals.
University
lecturers are also on strike over low salaries. Newsday
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