Zimbabwe: Civil servants strike for improved wages

HARARE, Zimbabwe

Striking Zimbabwean civil servants were blocked by armed police on Wednesday while marching to the country’s Ministry of Finance Offices in the capital Harare, where they intended to hand a petition for improved wages.

A group of government workers had gathered in the morning at the offices of the Apex Council, the country’s largest civil servant unions board, as police stood by blocking all roads that led to the Finance Ministry.

"It’s like police gave us the right to march with their right hand, but quickly snatched it away with their left hand," said Cecilia Alexander, president of the Apex Council.

In its petition, the council urges the Finance Minister to "commit to a process of restoring the value of workers' salaries to the pre-October 2018 status of 400 USD for the lowest paid worker."

Inflation in the Southern African nation stands at approximately 300%, according to figures by the International Monetary Fund.

Although the government has appeased workers over the past months by providing cushioning allowances against rising living costs, the effects of these measures have been limited, with the APEX Council calling for a strike.

Takavarasha Zhou, who is a member of the Apex Council and the National Coordinator of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Professionals and Technical Association, said: "If government doesn't act, they must prepare to see a repeat of the 2008 crisis when government workers completely stopped going to work."

Striking workers gathered outside Apex Council offices, waving protest signs as armed police barred them from moving to other areas of the capital.

"Workers have no money; workers are going to work with empty stomachs," said Charles Mubwandarikwa, a regional head of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, which also joined Wednesday’s strike.

The strike came after authorities banned demonstrations by opposition members and civil society last August.

It is also the first time government workers in Zimbabwe have been allowed to strike.

Erupting wage protests

The Southern African nation is currently going through a season of strikes for improved wages, with doctors nearing over two months in their own protest demanding increased, U.S. dollar-based wages.

On Tuesday, the government fired 77 striking medical doctors out of the country’s 1,680.

Minister of Information Monica Mutsvangwa had told reporters that the doctors' strike has gone on over 63 days as of Tuesday. "Medical services at most central hospitals therefore remain constrained," she added.

Nurses from across Harare’s city council clinics also dropped their tools, feigning incapacitation, due to their poor wages.

Since coming to power, Zimbabwe’s President Emerson Mnangagwa’s government has resorted to force in quelling any anti-government protests.

In August 2018, the government unleashed the military on protesters who demanded an immediate release of election results following presidential polls on July 31, with six people shot and killed.

Last January, demonstrators protesting fuel price hikes, were again suppressed by the military, leading to 17 killed in Harare and nearby towns.

Mnangagwa’s government is struggling to attract investment from developed countries, after renewed diplomatic fallout with Washington.

Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo reportedly came out attacking U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nicholson, accusing him of acting like an opposition member.

The attacks on the U.S. envoy came after a foiled anti-sanctions march which was followed by the U.S. adding State Security Minister Owen Ncube to its sanctions list.