Doctors at Zimbabwe’s government hospitals have gone on an indefinite strike demanding an 8 000% pay increase, their union leader said on Friday.
“The strike started around midday yesterday,” said Phibion Manyanga, president of the Hospital Doctors Association.
The doctors, who earn a gross monthly salary of 378 000 Zimbabwean dollars (US$473), are demanding that their new basic salaries be pegged at 30-million Zimbabwean dollars (US$37 500), he said.
The strike has affected hospitals in the capital Harare, the cities of Bulawayo and Masvingo, and the town of Chitungwiza, south of the capital.
Only foreign consultant doctors hired by government from Cuba and the Democratic Republic of Congo are at work at the affected hospitals.
Manyanga said his association had written to the government on several occasions asking for a review of their wages, but there had been no positive response.
“We were patient, we were trying to reach a compromise, but they (government) closed the door on us and we were left with no option but to go on strike.
“We feel for us our patients … but a disgruntled doctor is more dangerous at work. So it’s better to stay at home,” he said.
Pay-related national strikes by Zimbabwe’s government hospital doctors have become an almost annual tradition. In some years, the strikes last for as long as several months. – AFP