Teachers push for fresh salary negotiations

Harare, (New Ziana)-Teachers on Thursday pressured the government to provide a date for a meeting to discuss a salary review for the second quarter of this year.

The last time the two parties met, government workers were awarded an adjustment on their USD component of the salary.

In a statement, Zimbabwe Teachers Association president Akuneni Maphosa said the current salaries for educators are now insufficient.

He said the employer failed to respond to the calls for meetings in April, which marks the first quarter negotiations of the NJNC (National Joint Negotiating Council) as has been the norm over the years, to discuss salary reviews.

“We believe that we have a right to present our grievances, such as the need to have a better salary. Therefore we publicly demand that the NJNC must convene as soon as possible.

“We call on the employer to provide a meeting date for a salary review for educators as continued infringements on their right to negotiate for better salaries may have dire consequences,” he said.

Maphosa said the union was also not happy with the grading systems between junior and senior grades.

“We hereby make an urgent call for the employer to address it, alongside the awarding of new salaries for educators,” he said.

Before schools opened this term teachers were divided on action to take to pressure the employer to review their salaries with some radical unions calling on the educators to down tools while the progressive ones preferred the negotiation route, with the latter carrying the day.

New Ziana