TEACHERS have notified the government of their intention to embark on an indefinite strike starting on Tuesday, citing unresolved grievances and demanding improved working conditions and a salary increment.
Teachers under the Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Union (FOZEU) are demanding a salary of US$1 250 per month.
The umbrella body brings together the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz), Education Union of Zimbabwe, Professional Educators Union of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Visually Impaired Teachers Union.
They held a meeting in Harare on Wednesday, where they resolved to down tools.
Teachers have been bemoaning poor working conditions and low salaries over the years.
They say the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) is failing to yield results in terms of reaching an amicable agreement over their grievances.
In a letter dated May 21, 2025, addressed to Primary and Secondary Education minister Torerai Moyo, FOZEU secretary-general Obert Masaraure, who is also the leader of Artuz, said the union would pursue legal avenues to ensure the rights of its members were respected.
“We write to notify you that the Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Union has called for a strike effective May 26, 2025,” Masaraure said in the letter.
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“This industrial action demands an urgent salary review to enable teachers to meet the costs of reporting for duty and to live dignified lives.
“Trade unions affiliated to the FOZEU have been mandated by their members to call for the strike.
“Teachers will also be picketing at their workstation to register their demands. The pickets shall be conducted with support from the communities who support the cause of teachers.”
Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro hit out at unions calling for a strike action.
“The clamour for a strike is not a movement, it is the shrill cry of a handful of anxious activists disguising themselves as educators,” Ndoro said.
“Let us be unequivocal: the so-called ‘union’ leading this charade is a fringe group of a dozen individuals, not a legitimate federation.
“Its members . . . lack both the mandate and the capacity to represent Zimbabwe’s teachers. Their theatrics belong to the past.”
He added: “In the second republic, strikes are obsolete. Progress demands pragmatism, not performative outrage. Instead of clinging to defunct tactics, this group should dissolve its pretence.
“To those fixated on disruption, redirect your energy. Seek wisdom from unions that understand real change is forged in classrooms, not chaos. The nation’s children deserve better than your theatrics.”
Currently, teachers earn an average of US$250 per month and around ZiG3 000.
FOZEU said the amount could barely cover their basic needs.
While FOZEU members are demanding a salary of at least US$1 250, other unions are demanding that the government reverts to the pre-October 2018 salary of US$540.
An NJNC meeting held last week, where civil servants were demanding a salary increment, ended in a deadlock.
On Wednesday, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa demanding his intervention to direct Treasury to increase their salaries.
Teachers have, over the years, been at loggerheads with the government over low salaries.
NewsDay established that health workers also plan to down tools over similar grievances and lack of medicines and medical equipment at public hospitals.
University lecturers are also on strike over low salaries.
