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Tobias Mudzingwa Herald Reporter
Rural teachers under the banner of Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) have applauded Government for its commitment to improve civil servants’ welfare through the recent salary increment. Government, after negotiations with its workers on Thursday, agreed to increase salaries for its workers to 17,5 percent, up from the initial 10 percent.

RTUZ vice president Mr Gibson Mushangu said although negotiations were still ongoing with their employer for a further hike, they have since embraced the 17,5 percent increment.

“For the meantime, we appreciate what the Government has done because they have realised that what we are earning is not enough and have put some laudable effort to rectify this in spite of the current economic hardships in the country,” he said.

“What made us accept the offer temporarily was that we would not gain anything if protracted negotiations continued.
“It is better for our members to increase their coffers with that little percentage because our members really need the money.”
Mr Mushangu, however, said there was need for Government to treat its workers equally despite the difference in areas of work and ministries.

He said although they were not bothered by a higher salary increment given to those in the health ministry, it was prudent for Government to let this be across the board.

“Although we appreciate what the Government has done, there seems to be preferential treatment.
“We are not worried about the hefty increment given to some sectors, but we are saying that is a commendable benchmark and the precedence should flow over into other sectors,” said Mr Mushangu.

He reiterated that since Government was negotiating in good faith, there was no need for any industrial action and allayed fears of any down tooling by the rural teachers.

Said Mr Mushangu: “We have suspended any strike basing on the fact that we are going to meet again very soon for further discussions with Government and also because we accept the offer that has been tabled thus far”.

Relating to some specific demands which rural teachers want addressed, which include the rural teacher hardship allowance, which is currently at 5 percent and education sector-specific allowances, Mr Mushangu said: “We want specific allowances like teacher-in-charge, head of departments, sports organisers to be paid, as well as the raising of the rural teacher hardship allowance”.

Negotiations between Government and its workers, which are taking place under the National Joint Negotiating Council are set to continue later in July as some of the negotiating parties have to attend to other business outside the country till then.