/ 23 June 1999

HARARE STRIKE IN DAY THREE

MOST government schools in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare were deserted on Friday as a strike by civil servants entered its third day. Teachers are among thousands of civil servants around the country striking for a 20% cost of living adjustment. Inflation in Zimbabwe is running at more than 50%. President Robert Mugabe on Thursday night described the strike as “completely unjustifiable”. “It is a strike with no valid basis, possibly by people who just want to idle,” he said. The strikers say they have reached a deadlock in negotiations with the government.