Teachers across Zimbabwe have called off a three-week strike for better wages and working conditions after the government agreed to a near four-fold increase in their pay, union officials said on Friday.
”We have called off the strike,” Raymond Majongwe, secretary general of the radical Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), said.
”We met with the government and our major concerns have been addressed.”
Peter Mabande, CEO of the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) said: ”We have called off the strike with immediate effect after signing an agreement with our employer.”
Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere told Parliament on Wednesday that the government was ”keen” to address the teachers’ concerns.
Teachers in major towns started staging sit-ins in staff rooms three weeks ago when the PTUZ called a job boycott to press for higher pay.
Members of the bigger lobby group, Zimta, joined in a week later.
The teachers were demanding both a salary hike and a substantial rise in their housing allowances.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a severe recession characterised by four-digit inflation, massive unemployment and chronic shortages of basic foodstuffs.
Teachers often resort to moonlighting as private tutors or selling various wares ranging from sweets to clothes to supplement their income. — Sapa-AFP