Harare – Zimbabwean teachers are intensifying their calls for a substantial salary increase, demanding a minimum monthly wage of US$1,260. This demand, reiterated during World Teachers’ Day commemorations, comes against a backdrop of a rapidly deteriorating economic climate, marked by a plummeting local currency, the Zimbabwean dollar (ZiG), and soaring inflation. Currently, teachers earn no more than US$350 per month, a figure significantly below the food poverty line of over US$500.
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), a vocal teachers’ union, issued a statement highlighting the inadequacy of current salaries. “ARTUZ calls upon the employer to review salaries and pay a fair wage that enables teachers to cater for basics and have savings. A minimum of US$1 260 is all that teachers are demanding,” the statement read.
The statement, released in celebration of World Teachers’ Day, under the theme “Valuing Teacher Voices: Towards a New Social Contract for Education,” also condemned the government’s alleged harassment of union leaders. ARTUZ accused the government of prioritising attacks on union members over addressing their welfare concerns. The union cited the recent abduction, torture, and subsequent release of its secretary-general, Robson Chere, who was forcibly removed from a plane at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
“The state is urged to stop the relentless attack on ARTUZ and focus on protecting the freedom of associa.
