Teachers go on strike

By Lance Guma
05 February 2006

A three-day go-slow by teachers has turned into a full-blown strike after government ignored demands by the teachers unions for an increase in salaries. According to Raymond Majongwe, the Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union (PTUZ), some areas recorded a 100 percent adherence to the strike while other teachers resorted to a sit in. Majongwe told Newsreel the state controlled media has so far ignored the strike in an effort to undermine it and that hundreds of state security agents are moving around schools in the country trying to intimidate teachers into ignoring the strike. He said the union remained confident the strike will gain even more momentum by Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meanwhile Majongwe reported to Harare Central Police station, following a raid on his Cranborne home last week in which Law and Order officers were looking for him. He says he went to the police station in the company of his lawyers and was interrogated for over 45 minutes. The police wanted information on the operations of the PTUZ and why it was calling for a strike by teachers. Majongwe says he volunteered the information freely and that there was nothing in their operations or the call for a strike that was illegal. The teachers are demanding a minimum Z$540 000 per month compared to the current Z$84 000-Z$157 000 salary range that is below the poverty datum line.

With government ignoring their demands for better salaries, thousands of teachers are reportedly skipping the border into South Africa. The trend has been further worsened by a shortage of maths and science teachers in South Africa’s Gauteng province, which has served to encourage more teachers to join the great trek. Majongwe believes the solution is to force government into improving the conditions of service for teachers and that negotiations are a waste of time.