The Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) has reiterated its demand for USD$840 salaries for its members.

ZIMTA Secretary General Goodwill Taderera said they have already submitted a position paper to the Government outlining their expectations. Said Taderera:

We are still demanding a meaningful salary increase for teachers and this demand is on our agenda this month. According to a position paper which has already been tabled to government, a sum of USD$840 must be the entry level salary for a qualified teacher.

He said teachers expect to be awarded salaries that align with their profession, their qualifications, their experiences and the workload.

Taderera said that the US$20 salary increment granted to civil servants fell significantly short and not enough to cover their basic needs. He said:

Our demand is also, as per our last negotiations where the government, of course, gave us $20.00 and on the part of teachers $39.00 payable in RTGS but still, we thought that this was a mockery on our part and because of that we think that the government should be serious going forward to give us something quite meaningful.

A salary increase of $20.00 is just about nothing to take home, a salary increase of $ 39 RTGS which they are now calling Zimbabwean Gold (ZiG) again is just about nothing to take home about considering the inflationary pressures that are there and the cost of living that is also prevailing within the economy

The Government recently raised civil servants’ salaries to US$320, up from US$300, and indexed the Zimbabwe dollar component to the prevailing official exchange rate.

The National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) is expected to meet this month where ZIMTA plans to table its demands.

More: Pindula News