ZCTU Backs Nurses’ Strike, Slams Government Over Failing Health Sector – Eduzim News

By A Correspondent – Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has expressed its full support for nurses currently on strike, who are demanding better salaries, improved allowances, and access to essential medical supplies.

On Tuesday, 24 March, ZCTU Secretary General Tirivanhu Marimo said the nurses are pushing for a salary review to keep pace with the rising cost of living, noting that many received lower pay this month compared to previous months.

The nurses are also calling for a revision of housing and transport allowances, arguing that Public Service Commission (PSC) buses do not align with their shift schedules. They are further demanding free medical care at public hospitals, citing the financial burden of paying for treatment themselves.

Marimo said that, combined with shortages of essential medical supplies and equipment, these challenges are hampering nurses’ ability to provide effective care for patients.

He added:
“For years, medical workers have been calling for improved working conditions, enforceable staffing ratios and have been patient for too long while the government has been dragging its feet. We urge the nurses to be steadfast in their demands. The fight for the safety and dignity of nurses and their patients must be unrelenting until sanity is restored in the public health sector.”

Marimo said the ZCTU believes that decent work is a right, not a privilege, adding that it is no secret that health sector workers are poorly paid, and cutting some of their allowances is simply callous.

He also warned that the health sector is collapsing because it is not being prioritised by the central government.

He added:
“The government needs to quickly respond and address concerns raised to save lives. It is embarrassing that the nurses have downed tools on the heels of remarks by the Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Deputy Minister Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, that the lowest-paid civil servants now earn above the Poverty Datum Line and that government salaries have become competitive.

We also call upon the government to address the welfare of all its employees as a matter of urgency for improved service delivery and not wait for them to down tools.”

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