Teachers have grudgingly welcomed the upward review of public sector workers’ USD allowances to US$200 from US$175.
The new salary regime was tabled on Tuesday during a meeting of the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC).
The government also pledged to continue paying the annual bonus, a 13th cheque, in foreign currency as was done last year but the full details of that payment are yet to be revealed.
Secretary-General of the Association of School Heads Munyaradzi Majoni said they welcomed the increment but they want teachers’ salaries and allowances to be at par with the rest of the civil service. He said:
Any increment is welcome though we are still lagging behind when compared to other Government departments.
Education is paid five times less than nurses and other civil servants.
Our allowances are too low and the allowances should be the same for all civil servants But we welcome the increment.
The chairperson of the National Association of Primary Schools, Cynthia Khumalo, said the increment is better than nothing. She said:
We appreciate the increment but we want the authorities to look further into the issue because 25 per cent will not change anything. It is difficult to accept but at least the increment is better than nothing.
We want the money to be reviewed to US$540 because we once earned that money sometime back during the dollarisation era.
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Union (ZIMTA) secretary-general Goodwill Taderera said:
The money is not adequate or to our expectations. When the minister promised us an increment, we had higher expectations.
We want social dialogue to prevail so that we can address our concerns to the Government.
The outcome of Tuesday’s NJNC meeting was confirmed by Apex Council chairperson Cecelia Alexander. She said:
The employer offered an increase of 25 per cent on the USD$100 to make it US$125 and maintained the USD$75 COVID-19 allowance to make the total US dollar package US$200 with effect from September 1, 2022.
The workers acknowledged the increase but chose to wait for specific modalities on how this is going to be implemented
The employer did not offer or table any increase on the Zimbabwe dollar salary and the workers demanded that this be also reviewed without fail.
In the end, the Government side asked for time out to consult.