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Loveness Bepete Chronicle Reporter
NURSES have threatened to go on strike if the government fails to come up with a concrete date by tomorrow stating when their 13th cheque would be paid.
Zimbabwe Nurses Association national organising secretary Mugove Chipfurutse said they expected to have been paid by now as they had obligations, including paying their children’s school fees.
He said the government was not treating its workers fairly as other civil servants had already been paid.
Teachers and members of the uniformed forces have already been paid their bonuses with the government saying the rest of the workers would be paid at the end of the month.
“We just need our bonuses like any other civil servants. The government should equally treat its employees. This time if they fail to put something tangible on the table before Friday, then there’s no two ways about it. On Monday nurses across the country will not go to work,” Chipfurutse said.
He said it was inconsiderate of their employer to treat nurses who work tirelessly throughout the day and night in the manner it has done.
“We need to pay school fees for our children but how do we achieve that as we don’t have the money, it’s just stressful,” Chipfurutse said.
He added that although nurses had other grievances, the issue of bonuses was an urgent matter.
“We just don’t care about anything else as of now but our bonuses. Nurses are faced with different challenges and today I can’t comment on anything else but our bonuses,” Chipfurutse said.
The Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa, said he was not aware of the planned nurses’ action.
“Did they say that? I didn’t receive any information pertaining to the industrial action,” he said.
Teachers started receiving their bonuses on Tuesday following threats to go on strike next week when schools open.
Last year doctors went on a three-week strike which crippled the nation’s health sector.
Online Reporter