Minister’s Intervention Averts University Of Zimbabwe Lecturers' Strike
Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare Minister Edgar Moyo stepped in on Friday to prevent a planned strike by University of Zimbabwe lecturers. The lecturers had planned to go on strike starting Monday to demand higher salaries.
The university had not met the lecturers’ salary demands, leading to a Show Cause Order, which is a formal request to explain why they hadn’t met the demands. Moyo approved this order.
Borncase Mwakorera, the secretary-general of the Association of University Teachers (AUT), called Moyo’s intervention a “temporary setback”. He said:
It’s just a temporary setback but will be meeting our members on Monday for the way forward. Who knows, they may resolve to go ahead with the strike.
Lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe, who fall under AUT, are demanding that their salaries be raised to the pre-October 2018 level.
AUT said that in October 2018, lecturers’ salaries were drastically reduced from US$2,250 per month for a junior lecturer to less than US$300 per month, plus a small local currency component that translates to less than US$200 when converted.
This cut represents an 87% reduction in their salaries, leaving lecturers struggling to cover basic needs such as housing, food, and transportation. Many say they can’t afford to pay for their children’s education at UZ or even basic daily expenses.
The AUT claims they have sent over 27 letters to the university authorities since 2018, asking for salary improvements, but have received only one response.
The lecturers also say that the university has not fulfilled its contractual obligations, such as paying for funeral policies and health insurance.
More: NewsDay
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