Some teachers who have not been taking classes since last week citing incapacitation, have accused the Zimbabwe Teachers Union (ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) of betraying them.
One aggrieved teacher who spoke to NewsDay on Monday castigated the unions for allegedly conniving with the government to suspend them. Said the teacher:
ZIMTA and PTUZ are selling out but we are not going to go back to work as we are still incapacitated.
However, ZIMTA secretary-general Goodwill Taderera denied selling out the teachers. He said:
I wouldn’t call it selling out. We are just working on what was discussed with the National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC).
There is a circular that ZIMTA put out urging teachers to go back to work.
PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou yesterday also denied the allegations that his union has let down teachers. Zhou said:
I have a track record to protect. To whom will I even sell the struggle when the government does not want to see my face in any meeting as they accuse me of supporting the regime change agenda?
I cannot salivate at ZANU PF predatory leaders, thuggery and thievery.
The majority of teachers and headmasters at public schools initially rejected the Government’s 20% salary increment to all civil servants and a US$100 allowance to be converted from the local currency salary component.
They vowed not to return to work until the Government restored their pre-October 2018 salary of US$540.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Evelyn Ndlovu responded by suspending all the striking teachers, but the move has been challenged in court.