HARARE – Lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe have called an indefinite strike starting Wednesday demanding better pay.
Junior lecturers currently earn US$250 and a “paltry ZiG amount,” according to Munyaradzi Gwisai, the legal adviser to the Association of University Teachers (AUT).
“The strike is on. A fully lawful strike. No employee can be subjected to disciplinary punishment for participating in the strike,” Gwisai said in a statement on Tuesday.
Gwisai said the low salaries were a “recipe for destruction and slow death of this national jewel (University of Zimbabwe).”
He added: “Only ourselves can right this grievous injustice. The AUT has followed meticulosly to the dot the very cumbersome requirements of the law to engage in a lawful strike.
“The response of the university management has been crude and intimidatory…
“This is a necessary step for our dignity, for our families, for our students, for our beloved UZ. And for the nation indeed.”
The university responded to the strike threats by suspending six leaders of the AUT for “insurbodination.”
The University of Zimbabwe has a staff establishment of over 2,700 and a student population of over 11,500.
Falling standards at the country’s oldest university are partly blamed on high staff turnover and low staff morale, both caused by low salaries.
