The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has said teachers will “scale up our incapacitation struggle” if the government does not restore their pre-October 2018 salaries that were around US$540. Said PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou in a statement:
Salary, Bonus, Invigilation: Teachers Engage A High Gear
27 November 2021
Bonus has never been the thrust of our struggle but it is now long overdue. Lies have short legs, and what teachers expect before the end of November is to get a hard US$ bonus. There will be no excuse whatsoever, and the sooner the money is deposited in every teacher’s Nostro account, the better. For the avoidance of doubt, PTUZ or its SG, Raymond Majongwe, has not discussed disbursement of bonus with any govt official. That we see his name associated with a purported meeting that exists in the figment of the imagination of the writer baffles logic. It’s known that it is only the colleagues in Apex who would purport to discuss an issue that has long been unilaterally determined. However, there is a meeting between the United Front of Teacher Unions and the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education on Monday, where the bonus issue may feature as a sideshow of many pertinent issues such as sectoral allowances and invigilation of Public Examinations.
Unless there would be a new position navigated on Monday, our current position communicated to ZIMSEC and PSC, and copied to our line Ministry is “No contract/no payment, No Invigilation Teachers” must therefore walk their talk in order to communicate a bold message to Zimsec that has decided to be dishonest with the truth and take teachers for granted.
The battle for the restoration of the purchasing power parity of teachers’ salaries is our key pre-occupation that must unite teachers across the teacher union divide. Govt has accepted that the RTGs is an affront and useless denomination, and the time is now to ensure that henceforth, teachers would be paid US$ dominated salaries. Teachers do not need an increment but restoration of their pre-October 2018 salaries pegged at an average of US$540 as a matter of urgency. It’s either we get US$540, or else we will scale up our incapacitation struggle. Our action over the payment for invigilation of public examinations must be a dress rehearsal for the restoration of the purchasing power parity of teachers’ salaries. No teacher must afford to stand on the touchline to watch a game we should all be playing. All teachers must be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Let’s walk our talk and defend the teaching profession.
Venceremos
Dr Takavafira M. Zhou, PTUZ President