Teachers appeal for wages above poverty line

TEACHERS unions, represented by the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Union (Zimta) and the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), yesterday demanded that government pays salaries above the poverty datum line given that the consumer basket was now around $3 600.

They appeared before the joint sitting of the Priscilla Misihairabwi-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education and the Portfolio Committee on Public Service chaired by Emma Ncube to speak on their petition to Parliament, demanding that their salaries be pegged against the intermarket bank exchange rate and part of it ($200) be paid in United States dollars.

“The April 2019 salary adjustments have been overtaken by runaway inflation which was 76%, but now it is around 900% and the State is failing to act constitutionally by adequately remunerating teachers and is thus violating the rights of teachers and students because teaching is no longer a decent job and falls way below standards because the salary is not commensurate with teachers as professionals,” Zimta president Paul Gundani said, while presenting on behalf of Zimta and the PTUZ.

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