OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Monday 6.45pm
HOTEL guests in Zimbabwe awoke to face the prospect of having to make their own beds on Monday as workers went hungry at lunchtime as a national strike by catering staff entered its fourth day.
Restaurants and fast food outlets in the capital Harare and other major centres remained closed, while managerial staff at resorts such as Victoria Falls struggled to provide tourists with basic services.
The Zimbabwe Sun group, which has hotels around the country, said its operations has been affected nationwide, although management is trying to ensure that disruption to guests is minimised.
A spokesman for the group asked guests to “bear with us until the situation is resolved.” But tourists at other hotels complained to the state news agency Ziana that their rooms were not cleaned on time, with some saying they were making up the beds themselves. Riot police stood guard at five-star hotels in the capital to prevent access by groups of strikers intent on ensuring that no restaurants or bars remained open. The strike began on Friday as workers pressed for pay increases to match the rate of inflation, which is running at a record 63%.
“No one is going back to work until we get what we want,” said Chrispen Zinzombe, vice president of the Hotel and Catering Industry Workers’ Union. — AFP
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