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Civil servants are pressing for salary adjustments and have since written a petition to the Government seeking audience on the improvement of their remuneration.
While the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has called for a strike, Zimta chief executive officer Mr Sifiso Ndlovu yesterday said teachers would report for duty today.
He distanced his organisation from the strike and blasted PTUZ for being “too rushy.”
“We met as the Apex Council recently to map the way forward on the salary issue and agreed that we will not go on strike. This is a decision we made together to assist our children and the Government while negotiations are going on,” said Mr Ndlovu.
“We resolved to write a protest letter to the Ministry of Public Service to give the negotiators audience over the issue. The letter was copied to Finance Minister Tendai Biti and to the Office of the President.”
Mr Ndlovu said calling for a strike at the moment was a counterproductive decision.
“We have worked with PTUZ and they have been on perpetual strike. They mix up things and it is typical of them. We met together but they are now the only ones who are calling for a strike.
“This is a sign of cowardice and they want to use the strike to gain cheap mileage,” said Mr Ndlovu.
“We are a professional organisation and we need not do things haphazardly. We held meetings with our members late last year and there was no resolution on a strike. Our members should go to work as usual.”
He said there was a need to work on a mutual understanding adding that calling for a strike at this time was inappropriate.
“The problem is that we are informed by different principles and in this instance the issue of a strike is not something coming from our members. We have not consulted them over the issue,” said Mr Ndlovu.
He said PTUZ, which is an affiliate to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), should concentrate on solving its skirmishes with its mother body and stop using the strike issue as a cover up.
Since last year ZCTU has been rocked by divisions and infighting, which have seen its ousted leader, Mr Lovemore Matombo, refusing to relinquish power to the newly elected Mr George Nkiwane.
Mr Ndlovu said the ZCTU controversy had rendered the PTUZ irrelevant in championing the cause of teachers.
However, PTUZ secretary general Mr Raymond Majongwe, who is also the secretary general of the parallel ZCTU structures, which recently held their congress in Bulawayo, insisted that his members would not go to work.
“We cannot work any longer. Going to work will worsen our bargaining power,” said Mr Majongwe.
Zimta president Ms Tendai Chikowore, who is also chairperson of the Apex Council, an umbrella body for all civil servants organisations, at the weekend said her organisation had not declared a strike.
She said their negotiating team would meet the Government tomorrow to iron out the sticking points over the salary issue.
The Apex Council is demanding a monthly salary of $538 for the least paid civil servant.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo was a hive of activity yesterday as parents jostled to buy uniforms and other learning materials in preparation for the first term.
Long queues were observed in most stationery and uniform shops in the city as demand for their products soared.
Some parents ferried their children to boarding schools outside Bulawayo with some schools using their own buses to transport pupils.
Online Reporter