Teachers` unions in the country say the government must redress their salary grievances before schools open. Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe Dr Takavafira Zhou says that apparently teachers are not requesting for any salary increase but a holistic settlement that resonates to around USD520 for the least paid teacher in 2018.“Teachers are not demanding for a salary increase. Teachers want to be given their real salaries. Look, in 2018 teachers were getting USD520 to USD550. Why not go back to these figures. The economy has long since dolarised. We have to move on with time. There is no need for government to keep on hiding behind the figure,” said Zhou.Zimbabwe Teachers Association president, Richard Gundani said that there is need to redress the matter urgently.“As teachers Unions we have long since made it known that we are incapacitated. We cannot make it to the classrooms. We don`t want any more surprises. The government should make sure that this issue has been ironed out. The money that has been allocated to the Ministry of Education in the 2022 national budget should be disbursed with immediate effect so as to deal with some of these issues.” said Gundani.Obert Masaraure , the president of Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe concurred with his colleagues intimating that the chief problem concerning teachers` salaries was vested in the negotiation process as the employer had turned out to be a dictator.“The negotiation process is done without proper procedures as required by the labor act being adhered to. We have often seen government coming with figures for us for a long time now. This is being done in utmost bad faith.” said Masaraure.The issue to do with teachers` salaries has become daily bread between government and teachers with the latter choosing to express their plight through the euphemism “incapacitation” while the former is seemingly not ready t
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