HARARE – Lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) have intensified their strike action, halting teaching as they protest monthly salaries of just US$230, a figure their union describe as a “clear heist robbery” of their expected earnings.
The educators, including professors, are reportedly earning approximately US$230 per month and have informed students that they will not be marking examinations due to the industrial action.
The strike action follows earlier protests last week, during which police reportedly broke up a picket line and arrested three union leaders.
The Association of University Teachers (AUT), the union representing the lecturers, subsequently obtained a High Court order barring police interference with their peaceful demonstrations.
In a notice issued to the police, the AUT announced that picketing would take place on Thursday, April 24, and Friday, April 25, between 9 AM and 2 PM at the university’s Churchill Avenue and Mount Pleasant main entrances.
The union stated that no teaching would occur during this period.
The lecturers are demanding a significant increase in their salaries, seeking a minimum of US$2,500 per month for junior lecturers. This figure represents the salary level they reportedly earned prior to October 2018, before a substantial reduction to the current US$230.
AUT legal advisor Munyaradzi Gwisai condemned the situation as a “clear heist robbery” of their labor, highlighting the drastic reduction in salaries since 2018.
“We cannot sit back and accept a clear heist robbery of our sweat and work as workers that happened after October 2018.
“We cannot accept a situation where a salary is reduced from US$2 250 to less than US$250 when we are at the highest institution of learning in this country,” Gwisai stated.
UZ spokesperson for AUT, Professor Obvious Vengeyi, echoed these sentiments, stating that while lecturers’ salaries have plummeted, university administrators are allegedly enjoying benefits such as expensive vehicles and are unresponsive to the lecturers’ grievances.
He claimed that over 40 memos requesting dialogue had been largely ignored by the administration.
“We demand the restoration of our salaries to US$2 250 for junior lecturers, which is the salary that they were used to getting in 2018 before the salaries were suddenly cut to US$230, which is what everyone is getting here at the University of Zimbabwe,” Vengeyi noted.
“Yet the administrators are enjoying themselves here. They buy themselves expensive vehicles. They are arrogant. They don’t talk to us and they don’t want to engage.
“From when we started these protests, we wrote more than 40 memos asking them to talk to us, but they did not yield any results. They only responded to two memos out of 40. They are arrogant. They distribute resources to themselves.”
Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti also weighed in on the issue, describing the lecturers’ current wages as an “indictment” on the government, especially in light of alleged widespread looting of public funds.
He emphasised the importance of education and the need for teachers and lecturers to receive a “decent living wage.”
“Education is a fundamental driver of dignity development and upliftment. It is the ultimate equalizer. Teachers and lecturers are a national asset that the Harare regime is paying US$250 to a University Professor whilst billions are being looted by gangsters and cronies is an indictment.
“In any normal country it is a privilege to teach at a University. In Zimbabwe our professionals have been reduced to rag tag beggars whilst drop outs and convicts parade ill begotten loot that they dish out like confetti. Teachers, doctors, nurses and all must be paid a decent living wage.
“This regime has failed and failed in absolute terms. Its treatment of working people, its debasement of professionals, the collapse of public services, the corruption, the decay are daily narratives.
“We therefore restate the call for a new consensus. This one has failed,” Biti stated.
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