Nurses at state hospitals go on strike over bonus payments

Thousands of nurses in state hospitals in Zimbabwe have gone on strike over a lack of bonus payments, straining an already dire situation at the poorly resourced hospitals.

Enoch Dongo, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Nurses Association, said Wednesday that nurses will only return to work when they get a firm commitment that their bonuses will be paid.

Nurses and other government workers have yet to be paid a traditional annual bonus. The financially struggling government has proposed offsetting the 2016 bonus payments with land offers.

Dongo, however, says nurses want the bonuses in cash, not land.

State hospital doctors have been on strike since Feb. 15, forcing the government to send in army and police doctors to care for patients. AP